BLEACH: The Wind Preistess
by animeangel1991
Summary: toushiro is sent on a mission to kara kura town to find a powerful reiatsu to retain or destroy it while on the other hand he and the gang meet a pristess that seems to attract alot of hollow's attention... basically it i suc at summaries R&R pweez!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One:

Kara Kura Town hadn't changed much since the last time he was here. Not that it mattered to him anyway. He was here on a mission and the sooner he completed it, the better. He stood on the top of a telephone pole, the town surrounded in the darkness of the night below and around him, dotted with a few lights from late night dwellers, who have yet gone to bed, or from stores that stayed open for most of the night. He thought back earlier this morning when the Captain-Commander of Soul Society summoned him for the mission.

_This morning-_

_ "You summoned me, Captain-Commander?"_

_ "Yes, Captain Hitsugaya," the old Shinigami said, looking up from what he was reading on his desk. "Come in."_

_ The young 10th Division Captain closed the door behind him and walked up to stand before the desk of Genryuusai Yamamoto, Captain of the First Division and the Captain-Commander of Soul Society. He made a formal bow before straightening and waiting for Yamamoto to speak._

_ "You are wondering why I summoned you, Captain Hitsugaya."_

_ "Yes," Toushiro replied._

_ The old Shinigami nodded before standing and walking towards one of the large windows of his office. "A report was brought to me," he said, "telling me of a powerful reiatsu located somewhere in Kara Kura Town. It has only been sensed a few times and in periods so short that before it can be tracked, it vanishes." The Captain-Commander turned and looked at Toushiro. "I want you, Captain Hitsugaya, to go into the real world and find this reiatsu and retain it, or destroy it, if possible. We cannot have a reiatsu that powerful in the real world. I cannot believe it to be a human's, so it could be anything from a Hollow to an Arrancar. Also, we know that there is a chance that a follower of Aizen is out there on the search for it also, and we don't want this spirit power to fall into Aizen's hands."_

_ Toushiro nodded and said, "Understood, but one question Captain-Commander."_

_ "Go ahead."_

_ "Why send me?," he asked. "There are plenty of others capable of the mission, so why are you sending me?"_

_ "You know Kara Kura Town the best out of anyone in Soul Society, besides perhaps Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kuchiki, who are both in the real world now anyway. I felt that if anyone could find the powerful reiatsu quickly enough, it would be you."_

_ Toushiro looked at the Captain-Commander and nodded. "Alright," he said, "I'll go."_

_ "Then you are dismissed."_

Present time-

Sighing, he took out his Shinigami Cellular Phone and contacted Soul Society. "This is 10th Division Captain, Toushiro Hitsugaya," he said softly. "I'm in."

After notifying Soul Society of their status he snapped his phone shut. Another sigh escaped his lips in agitation. This was becoming a hassle, they had been on the search since sun down and not one flare has been sensed.

"Captain?"

Toushiro looked around to see Rangiku Matsumoto standing on a rooftop not far away. "Matsumoto," he said, acknowledging her with a nod.

"Can you sense anything?" His lieutenant asked.

Toushiro shook his head and said, "No, not yet. I guess we'll have to give it time until we feel it flare up."

"Hmm... wounder how long that will be..."

"Who knows?" Toushiro said, sighing. He jumped down from his perch to land on the ground below, Rangiku landing beside him. "We'll head for Urahara's shop, and get our gigais, then we'll go from there."

"Right," Rangiku said, nodding. Then the two Shinigamis shunpoed in the direction of the shop.

The two Shinigamis of the 10th Division arrived at Urahara's shop to find Renji Abarai already there, arguing with the red-head kid that stayed with Kisuke Urahara.

"I'm telling you," the red-head, Jinta Hanakari, yelled pointing up at Renji. "There will be no free-loading from you this time!"

"I've told you, you little shit!" Renji hollered back. "I did _**not**_ free-load the last time I was here! I was fighting Arrancar when I wasn't training downstairs!"

"Yeah, well..."

"That's enough," Toushiro said loudly, causing the two in front of him to silent instantly. "I'm getting a head-ache... and I expected better from you, Abari. Arguing with a kid?"

"Captain Hitsugaya..." Renji stammered before he was interrupted by Urahara walking in from the back.

"What's all the ruckus?" The shop owner asked.

"Don't worry about it," Toushiro muttered as Rangiku giggled quietly behind him. "We're here for our gigais."

"Ah yes, I was informed of your mission," Urahara said, beckoning them towards the back. Toushiro followed Urahara with Rangiku and Renji behind him. "I was also informed that you will be housing with the Kurosakis during your stay in the real world, is that correct?"

"Yes," Toushiro said, nodding. "It's already been settled with Isshin Kurosaki that we will stay there during the mission and that all reports will be given there to the Captain-Commander."

"Excellent!" Urahara exclaimed, giving one of those goofy grins. Toushiro just grunted. "So, I'll just get your gigais and you can be on your way. The three of you should be all set to go to school with Ichigo and his friends tomorrow morning."

Next Morning-

"GOOOOD MOORRNNIIINNNGGGG, IIICCCHHHGOOOO!," cried Isshin as he body-slammed Ichigo's sleeping form.

"DAMN YOU, OLD MAN! LAY OFF! IT'S FIVE IN THE MORNING!"

Toushiro groaned from where he sat on the rooftop of the Kurosaki home. Already, Isshin Kurosaki was attacking Ichigo and he could hear the fight going on from where he was and could even feel the house shake as Ichigo threw the former Soul Society captain down the stairs. He punched a few more buttons on his Shinigami Cellular Phones before snapping it shut and looking out over the roof tops of the town. The horizon was lightening up with gold and red, signaling the upcoming dawn. He could feel the reitatsus of Ichigo's friends spread out over the town and smaller reiatsus of other people who were spirit sensitive, but no sign of the high reiatsu that had been reported. Toushiro sighed and he propped his chin in his hand. This wasn't going to be as quick as he thought it was going to be.

Suddenly he sensed a very large reiatsu flared up somewhere in Kara Kura Town, coming from his right. He whipped his head around in that direction and sprang to his feet. Just as he was about to reach in his pocket where he kept the soul candy, the reiatsu vanished as if it never were there. He frown slightly, now understanding what the reports meant.

"Did you feel that, Captain?"

"Yeah," Toushiro said without looking back at Rangiku, still staring in the direction the reiatsu came from. "It was only for a moment, but it was enough."

"It's powerful..."

Toushiro nodded and looked at Rangiku. "Powerful enough to be dangerous," he said. "When we find the source, we have to be careful and either find a way to retain it, or destroy it."

"But what if it's human?"

Toushiro shrugged and said, "Who knows? I doubt it though. No human can have a reiatsu that powerful. It was more than Kurosaki's."

"But," Rangiku said softly, "it didn't feel like a Hollow or an Arrancar... it was... so pure..."

Toushiro turned and looked back in the direction the reiatsu came from, hoping that it would flare up again. But it didn't... yes, this was going to take much longer than he'd hoped.

"TOUSHIRO! YOU ARE BACK!"

Sighing, the white-haired Shinigami held up a hand to stop Keigo Asano, who was barreling towards him. The human's face collided with the shinigami's palm and came to a dead halt. "Annoying as ever," Toushiro sighed, looking over at Ichigo. "Why do you keep such people around?"

The orange-haired shinigami sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "I ask myself that everyday..."

"Ichigo!" Keigo wailed, scrambling back from Toushiro, a red mark shaped as the white haired boy's hand on his face. "Why are all your shinigami friends so mean?" Then he spotted Rangiku and let out a squeal that made Toushiro wince. "RANGIKU! YOU CAME BACK T-"

Rangiku interrupted him as she punched him in the face leaving a loud crack. "I think he's became more perverted than Kon," Rangiku muttered wearily, rubbing her fist after it had just connected to Keigo's face, who was now out cold on the floor.

"It's probably close..." Rukia Kuchiki said.

"Should we just leave him there?" Renji asked, nudging Keigo with his toe.

"Don't worry," Mizuiro Kojima said, walking over and grabbing a hold of Keigo's wrist. "I'll deal with him. Just tell the teacher that I had to take Asano to the nurse's office." Then he dragged Keigo down the hall towards the said office.

"Well," Ichigo said, "now that that is over and done with, should we head to class?"

"Might as well," Toushiro said, walking forward again. The small group of shinigamis continued down the hall, heading towards the classroom. The last time Toushiro had been in the real world, he acted as a high school transfer student in the first year. Now he was doing the same again, only this time he was a high school transfer student in the final year with Ichigo and Rukia, even though some of the students believed he was an underclass men because of his height, which irked him. Despite his rank, he was still the shortest. _Still the shorty..._, he fumed to himself.

"Are you alright, Captain?" Rangiku asked Toushiro, keeping her voice low.

"I'm fine, it's nothing," he replied, shaking his head. "Where's the classroom, Kurosaki?"

"Should be right here... yeah, here we go." The five of them walked into the classroom where they were greeted by Orihime Inoue, Uryuu Ishida, and Yasutora (Chad) Sado. Orihime was ecstatic to see Rangiku and the two of them, along with Rukia, began chatting away about getting together sometime to go shopping. Uryuu just gave a nod to Renji, Toushiro, and Ichigo before returning to his reading and Chad gave his usual grunt of a hello. Toushiro slid into a desk behind Ichigonext to the window and proceeded to gaze out through the glass, chin propped up on one hand. No Hollow activity and no strong reiatsu. Toushiro was bored. The bell sounded and the rest of the students filed in and took their seats as the teacher walked in. After he, Rangiku, and Renji were introduced as the new "transfer students," the class began and the teacher began to write on the board at the front.

Toushiro continued to look out the window, silently musing to himself until he noticed a strange girl, around his age, sitting on the roof on the school building. Toushiro sat up and blinked. Even though she was on the other side of the school campus, he could see that she appeared to be meditating. She didn't look like she was from around here since her clothing looked foreign, and not in school uniform which meant she didn't go to this school. Her standard gear is somewhat revealing, given her age. A tiny green tube top makes up the entirety of her torso coverage, with a red cord hopefully keeping the rather loose fabric up. Half sleeves of white fabric with green trim and a red cross design cover her upper arms, held tight near the elbow with a red band and flared at the shoulder. Green wristbands complete the upper half. She sports a natty pair of white shorts, folded over at the top to create a little red cummer-bund effect. She wore tall green and white boots with red tops. Underneath are knee-length green socks, the left of which is pulled over the knee cap. A small green hip pocket with red face and gold diamond design in held to her left by a loose green belt, buckled with a large gold ring positioned over the right thigh. A chunky gold wrist let is worn over each wristband. The jewel in her accessories is a thick gold choker from which hang two long necklaces, and a large tribal sun-and-moon design piece of jewelry. Her hair is a long aquamarine, pulled back in two thick ponytails which are held with similarly thick gold bands. A red and gold hair clip holds a third plait to the back of her head. Long loose hair frames her face, and the fringe is practically alive.

Toushiro continued to stare at the odd looking girl, a questioning look crossing his features. He looked over her one last time, as if memorizing every detail of her. _She's a pretty cute girl_, he thought. He then realized what he just said in his mind and shook his head, _Where'd the hell that come from? Since when do I think a girl is cute like this? _His brow began to twitch as he heard Hyorinmaru laughing at him. That damn dragon always appeared in his mind at the wrong time it seemed.

"Captain?" He heard Rangiku whisper to him from the desk next to him. He glanced at her and raised a brow, silently asking her what she wanted. "Are you alright?"

"Every thing's fine, Matsumoto." He whispered back to her. "Don't worry."

She nodded and went back to day dreaming. She knew her Captain wasn't telling her something. She'd been watching him as he stared out the window. He looked bored at first, but then something had caught his attention, but she couldn't see what it was. She'd just ask him about it later.

Toushiro looked back out the window where the girl had been sitting, but she was gone. His eyes began to roam around for her, but he couldn't find a trace of the girl. He knew the girl was no ordinary human cause her reiatsu was as strong as Kurosaki, possibly stronger. They needed to find that girl and interrogate her, she may be connected to the mysterious reiatsu roaming about. His brows furrowed, deep in thought, as questions began to swarm in his head like a swarm of angry bees. _Who is that girl? Where'd she come from? What is she?_

He sighed, he could feel a head-ache coming from all this thinking. He decided the best thing to do would be to have a meeting with the group. Yep, this was definitely going to take longer than he had hoped...


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:**_ Hey so im not dead...hehe! Just lazy and no motivation... so yea. But I'll make it up to u wit another chapter! Yay! And im working on chapter 3 atm. Woo!_

**Disclaimer: _I geekyanimegirl proclaim that I do not claim nor own bleach or its characters nor do I own talim from soul calibur..._****_It'd be awesome if I did though but I don't :/_**

**Chapter Two:**

"You felt the reiatsu early this morning?" Urahara asked, looking at the Shinigamis from under the brim of his hat.

"Of course," Renji growled. "Anyone who is spirit sensitive would have felt that. It was stronger than Ichigo's reiatsu."

"I never felt anything like that before," Ichigo said, running a hand through his hair.

"We have to find the source of this reiatsu and deal with it," Toushiro said. "We need to think up a plan."

"Yeah," Renji said. "Any ideas, Ichigo?

"Hey, why are you asking me? Who said that I had to think up the plan?"

"You live here..."

"That don't mean anything, idiot!"

"You're the idiot, for not looking into this before hand! We could be avoiding all of this trouble of thinking of a plan right now!"

Toushiro sighed and stood up, walking to the front of the store. This was getting nowhere and he knew that those two will be at it for an hour or so. Plus he needed to figure out what they should do about that odd looking girl he saw this morning. He sat down on the raised floor in front of the doors that led to the back and pulled his phone out. No contact from Soul Society and no Hollow alerts. Sighing he snapped his phone shut as Urahara stepped out, his opening of the door allowed Toushiro to hear Ichigo and Renji still arguing. The shop owner slid the door close and walked to the edge of the platform. "What do you think, Captain Hitsugaya?" he asked, his voice serious.

Toushiro frowned and said, "I think this is going to be difficult. What ever is the source of this reiatsu is strong enough to whip us all out."

Urahara nodded and then his expression changed from serious to goofy-joy and he exclaimed, "Ah, customers!"

"Whatever..." Toushiro muttered, pulling out his phone again and turned his body so his back leaned against the wall. As he hit a few buttons on the phone, he heard the front door slide open and a little girl's voice talking quietly.

"How can I help you ladies this afternoon," Urahara said in a cheerful voice.

"Can I buy whatever I want, Mommy?" the little girl's voice said, loud enough this time so Toushiro could hear her.

"Go ahead, Marlene," said the girl's mother, causing Toushiro to look up. Sure enough the mother was kneeling in front of a girl around five years old. The little girl had long light brown hair tied in a long braid with a pink bow on the top of it and she wore a gray and white dress with brown shoes. He watched as the little girl laughed in delight, threw her arms around the older woman in a hug, and then ran to look at the shelves of candy. Smiling, the woman stood and smoothed out her knee-high tanned skirt of her business's outfit. Her eyes then fell on Toushiro and he saw her blink in surprise at his white hair. Toushiro quickly looked away feeling uncomfortable, but all his concentration on what he'd been doing before was gone.

Suddenly, his phone began to beep, signaling that a Hollow was nearby. _Finally!_ Toushiro thought as he looked on the phone's screen and saw the red blip that showed the Hollow's location. It was on the move, and quickly he might add. It was after someone. Snapping it shut, Toushiro stood and looked over at Urahara. "I'm heading out," was all he said, but he knew that the ex-Shinigami understood. Urahara nodded and Toushiro walked out the front door, passing the little girl's mother as he did. He could feel the woman watching him as he walked to the street.

As soon as he was out of the shop, Toushiro pulled out the Soul Candy dispenser and popped one of the tiny green balls into his mouth. He burst out of his gigai that was now inhabited by another soul until he was ready to return to it, he said, "Stay out of trouble." Then he shunpoed in the direction of the Hollow.

XXX

Talim walked to the edge of the creek she had found in the woods. It was a clearing with a small crystal-clear pool at the center surrounded by large boulders. White flowers dotted the land around the clearing. _So pretty... _Talim couldn't help but think as she watch the fish swim around. Some grew curious and swam up kissing the surface. She smiled adoringly at them. Talim crawled up onto a boulder to sit on it and continued to watch them. She could feel a small reiatsu coming from the water. _Hmm... something powerful must have happened here._ Suddenly, she heard a loud roaring scream from behind her. She stopped her curious thoughts and looked behind herself horror crossing her face, the wind picking up as she did. _There's is aggression and sadness in the wind... _She could sense something coming, something big. She knew what it was too...

_I have to get out of here!_ She hopped off the boulder she was sitting on and quickly ran the opposite direction of the roar. Talim had been avoiding that thing since dawn, somehow it manages to find her every time. She knew what they do and she knew what they were, and as much as it breaks her heart there wasn't much she can do for them. She wanted to help it pass on and move on from its extreme despair. Talim could suddenly hear her grandma's talking.

_Hollows are former deceased human souls that lose their hearts to despair or they remain in the real world for too long._Her grandma told her about them and how it was her duty as a priestess to save these souls from darkness and despair and help them to the light. But she had never seen or heard one before, it was awful!_ However, some stay in the living world to fulfill certain goals, such as looking after a loved one, protecting a particular location, or pursuing a grudge from beyond the grave. However, with only limited abilities to interact with the living, and by definition tied to their goals, many ghosts find they are unable to cope when their loved ones move on or old enemies forget them. At this point, some will become dangerously obsessed with fulfilling those goals, even if the means to fulfill them renders the soul empty. In doing so, the ghost warps into a Hollow and, ironically, often makes the focus of their obsession into their first victim. _

She always felt pity for them, she could never place blame to them. _The process by which a soul becomes a Hollow usually takes months to years to complete, reflected by the length of the soul's The Chain of Fate it slowly corrodes over time. When the chain completely decays, they become a Hollow when a hole opens up on their chest, where the chain was attached, signifying that they have lost their heart. Once a soul becomes a Hollow, it is driven by an eternal and insatiable hunger to devour other souls, living or dead, to fill the void caused by its descent. While their former obsession often becomes their first target, most Hollows will eventually become mindless creatures concerned only with finding the most potent souls to devour. Stronger and more evil Hollows are often able to retain some of their intelligence in Hollow form, making them more dangerous than the average Hollow._

_ So maybe it's after my priestess powers... _Talim thought to herself. _Well that solves why it's chasing me but...What am I suppose to do? Calm down Talim... okay._

She could feel it coming, could hear it roaring. She quickened her pace, but she knew she wouldn't be able to out run it, she had to fight it this time. Suddenly, the ground shook as the source of the roar crashed down in front of her causing her to jump back in surprise. Even though deep down she was scared Talim stood her ground with her Elbow Blades in hands. _I won't run away I must fight! I have to believe in myself...okay. _She stared up at the creature as it grinned wickedly.

**"I finally caught you, Priestess,"** the Hollow said in an evil voice, **"and a pretty one at that."**

"Why? Why do you wish to fight?"

**"So I can devour your soul and become much stronger!"**

"I'm sorry but I can't let you do that. If I had a choice, I would never...but... I place no blame on you. However, you threaten the very fabric of nature and I must stop you! So, I'll return you to your true form. And hopefully you'll find peace in the afterlife." Talim stated as she move to attack. "Here I come!"

But before she could get even a few feet within the Hollow to purify it, a blur of white came from above her. Her brown eyes widened when the figure came into focus, revealing a person dressed in black kimono and pants with a sleeveless haori over it. He held a long katana in his hand and he had messy white hair.

The person landed in front of her, back to her. Above, the Hollow cackled, **"A Shinigami as well?"** The monster raised a fist and, as he brought it down to crush them, he crowed, **"This is my lucky day!"**

Talim closed her eyes, waiting for the blow. But nothing came, but she felt a cold breeze that seemed to pick up, brushing her hair away from her face and giving her goosebumps all over her exposed skin. She opened her eyes and gasped at what she saw.

The young man in front of her held his sword up, holding back the Hollow's fist. The Hollow also seemed shocked that someone was holding him back. Then the young man spoke:

"Sit upon the frozen heavens," he said with so much venom that she was _afraid_ for the monster, "Hyourinmaru!"

The air became much colder and dark clouds swirled to cover the sky. The fist that he was holding back turned to ice, as well as the entire arm and then the entire arm broke as the ice shattered, leaving the monster with one less arm. The Hollow screamed as he stumbled back and the young man jumped high, swinging his sword. As he did, a dragon formed by ice and water was released from the blade and it soared at the Hollow. The Hollow swung a fist at the dragon, but the icy creature dodged the attack and took off the other arm. The young man landed back on the ground as the Hollow roared again. It opened his mouth and Talim watched as an orb of red light began to form in its mouth. "_Oh, no..._" she whispered softly.

"Too slow!" the young man yelled before he seemed to disappear, only to reappear high in the air in front of the Hollow. Before the monster could unleash his attack, he was cut into two by the man's sword. The Hollow let out a final roar as he was covered in ice before shattering. As tiny pieces of ice rain down, the clouds parted, revealing the sunny, cloudless day once more. The young man landed lightly on his feet back to the ground and sheathed his sword. Talim looked at him in wonder and amazement as she straightened back up. He glanced back at her for a moment, revealing half of his face, before he disappeared in a blur motion so quick that she couldn't track him.

"Thank you, dearly!" Talim shouted in hopes he was still within hearing range. Then she wondered to herself, "Who are you? _What _are you?"

XXX

_Shinigami...that's what the Hollow called him... I thought Shinigamis were a legend. Then again, Hollows were a myth as well told from the village elders. Yet they storm this place like a hot spot... but I'm the cause for that...Oh, wind please be with me._

Talim sighed as she stopped walking and looked down. There was too much going through her head for sleep...not that she had a place to sleep or stay. She was on her way home back in Asia after finishing her journey with Soul Edge and Soul Calibur, but there was so many lost and corrupt souls here she can't possibly leave Japan right at the moment. They needed her help and as a priestess that's whats she's going to do!

She continued to roam the streets of Kakakura Park and being sure to keep her reiatsu down to a normal humans in case more Hollows were lurking around for her. She suddenly caught sight of the heroic young man that saved her butt from being devoured by that Hollow earlier. He was up on a light pole with his back to her, playing with something. _What's he doing up there?_ Talim wondered to herself.

Talim decided it was time they talked. She wanted some answers and to thank him properly but...how was she going to get his attention without making herself look insane? He was up on a public light pole with late nighters walking about. She look down from the bridge she was on and noticed some thick bushes surrounding the pole. That's it! She could throw something at him to both get his attention and get him away from prying eyes. Talim smiled and looked around for something to throw at him. Spotting an old abandoned soccer ball at the edge of the bridge, she picked it up and thought for a moment. _Geez, I hope this doesn't hurt him... Wait he's a Shinigami so nothing can hurt him... Right?_ Talim reared back and hurled the ball at the young man.

XXX

He was about ready to call it a night. Toushiro had been searching around the area where they had sensed that flare this morning, but he could find nothing. It's like it was never here! He let out a small groan, he was about ready to rip his hair out of his head. There was nothing! No clues, no leads...Nothing! It was like it was mocking and teasing them, and that was something Captain Hitsugaya wouldn't stand for. He had no time to be playing hide-and-seek he was a Captain for kami's sake! _Alright I'm getting worked up for nothing. I need to focus and not lose my cool._

"_**Well that shouldn't be difficult, after all you are...icy."**_ Hyourinmaru mocked him.

_If you can't be useful then go away! _Toushiro spat not in the mood for this.

_**"I can be useful, in fact I'll give you a clue as to the where abouts of this fearsome reiatsu."**_

_What! You know where it is? Tell me!_

_**"Now where would the fun be if I just told you?"**_

_ Hyourinmaru, I demand you tell where the reiatsu is NOW!_

_**"You're gonna have to deal with it! I don't know where it is at the moment cause its suppressing its reiatsu."**_

Toushiro sighed feeling a migraine coming, _Alright, fine. So, what can you tell me?_

_**"The reiatsu is not dangerous, in fact its very... pure."**_

Toushiro blinked. _Matsumoto has said the same thing when we felt it flare up...but either way we still have to retain it. Is that all you know Hyourinmaru?_

_**"Well, despite what you may think, the reiatsu is closer than you know. In fact it could be right under your nose." **_Hyourinmaru chuckled.

_What the hell's that suppose to mean? Are you saying its disguising its self around us?_

_**"That's all I'm telling you. Good luck!" **_Hyourinmaru laughed as he went back deep into his mind.

_Damn that dragon._ Toushiro thought angrily as he flipped open his phone getting ready to make his daily report to the Captain-Commander of their progress, whether they made any or not he still had to report it.

"This is 10th Division Captain, Toushiro Hitsugaya," he began, "I am calling to report that we still have yet to locate the reiats-"

**WHAM!**

XXX

Talim watched as the young man was knocked with impressive force off the light pole and landed in the bushes with a thud. Strings of curses could be heard from the bushes.

Talim jumped off the bridge landing with a thud and running to see if he was okay. _I guess Shinigamis can get hurt...odd, _she thought. "Hey! Are you okay?"

He didn't know what happened really. One moment he was standing up on this pole making his daily report. Next thing he knew he was falling in the prickly bushes from being whacked to hell upside his fucking head by a damn soccer ball! His phone with the Captain-Commander was still on, but he probably hung up and Hitsugaya wouldn't blame him, was kami knows where since it flew out of his hand the moment he was struck so there was really no telling where it was. Just wait till he got his hands on Matsumoto. He was going to brutally kill her with paper work this time.

"I am so sorry! Please forgive me." Talim hysterically apologized with tears in her eyes, on the verge of crying.

Toushiro looked up at her from where he collapsed in the bushes after being unexpectedly struck in the head with a soccer ball. Didn't she know how hard a soccer ball was? He was seeing double till his vision came to. _That's not Matsumoto..._ Toushiro's eyes widened and he blushed when he recognized who it was, _It's that girl from before and...she can see me? _

**_"Yes the 'cutie' can see you." _**Hyourinmaru laughed teasing him.

Toushiro blushed brighter, _Shut it, Hyourinmaru!_

Hyourinmaru chuckled and left, causing his brow to twitch uncontrollably. He hated that dragon sometimes. He pushed himself to his feet and, instead of answering her, he said, "Well we meet again. It seems we keep bumping into each other. I'm impressed that you can see me, especially with the size of your reiatsu."

"I seen you earlier. Why wouldn't I be able to see you now?"

"No one is able to see me in this form..."

Talim blinked and said, "So you really are a Shinigami..."

Hitsugaya blinked in surprise. "What do you know of Shinigami?

"Only that they help souls crossover and are suppose to be a myth...guess not, huh?"

"No..."

"So...I-"

"I want to know who you are," he interrupted her. "I want to know how a normal girl like you was able to see a Menos, as well as a Shinigami."

"I've been able to hear and see Hollows all my life. We use to have them bad in my home land. We know what they are so we purify them and help them crossover."

"You _purify_ them!" Hitsugaya exclaimed incredulously. "How are you able to do that? What are you, a priestess?"

Talim blinked at his surprised expression. "Yes, I am. I purify all evil. It's my duty to bring peace and tranquility to all, even to spirits." She smiled. "I am known as the Last Priestess of the Wind. People don't know how true to that nickname I am. I have the power to sway the wind and I rely on earth's nature to guide me in all my adventures, and most importantly in battle. I usually just purify them but...today that Hollow that was chasing me was so big I had no chance of purifying it, not without help at least. So, I been running from it so it doesn't eat me. What did you call it?"

"Menos," he said. "They're a stronger form of Hollow. I don't know why it was in the human world, since they hardly come into it..."

"Could the power of a priestess have something to do with it?" Talim was afraid of the answer but asked anyway.

"Possibly. So I suggest refraining from using it unless nessassary, just to be on the safe side." She nodded. "So how are u able to sway the wind?"

"Because of what lies in my soul..."

"And that is?"

"Purity." Talim smiled an enchanting smile at him which caused him to blush and look away. "So how are people able to see you at school? I've seen you around there. Didn't you just say that no one can see you cause you're a Shinigami?"

"I use a gigai when I'm in the human world to move around. I take my Shinigami form when I have to."

"What's a gigai?"

"You would see it as a body."

"Oh...that sounds a little...umm...gross..."

Hitsugaya snorted and he turned to pick up his phone. She watched him curiously. He looked back at her. "Normally, I would erase the memories of a human that's seen one of us or have been involved with a Hollow attack, but I'm not going to do that..." he then said, seeing the look of horror that Talim gave him. "For one, you're a priestess and you can help us with Hollows we need all the help we can get as of late, and I have a feeling that it won't work on you and two, perhaps you could be of some use."

"What do you mean?" Talim asked. "And don't put it like I'm some sorta tool, either!"

Hitsugaya grunted in amusement and then said, "I'll explain it all tomorrow at school. I know you don't go there but meet me on the roof at lunch period, the one you meditated on."

Talim looked at him suspiciously, "How do you know what roof I-"

"I saw you today through the classroom window by my desk."

Talim nodded and then asked, "What's you're name?"

"Toushiro Hitsugaya," he replied.

"I'm Talim, pleased to meet you Toushiro." Talim smiled, "And thanks for saving me today."

Toushiro blushed and gave her a nod. Then he was gone. Talim smiled and went on. New questions were spinning in her head now, but somehow she was able to sleep peacefully.


	3. Chapter 3

"How much does she know?"

"More than I thought she would," Toushiro replied, glancing over at Ichigo as the two of them walked down the hall of the school. "She knows about Shinigami and has dealt with Hollows. She can also sense spirit pressures, especially those of Hollows, so I thought that she could possibly help us in looking for that powerful one. The more people we have looking, the easier it'll be in locating it."

"Maybe," Ichigo said, rubbing the back of his head in thought. "We'll have to see, but having more people might make it easier in locating that reiatsu." Then Ichigo looked at Toushiro and raised his eyebrows with a small smirk. "Is that the only reason why you didn't erase her memory?"

"What's that suppose to mean?" Toushiro asked, glaring up at Ichigo.

Ichigo just shrugged and said, "Ah, nothing…"

"Kurosaki, if you're taking this somewhere…"

"Captain!" Rangiku exclaimed, coming up from behind them and tackling Toushiro from behind, almost causing him to fall forward. "So who's the new girl you're going all goo-goo eyed over?"

"There's no goo-goo eyeing!" Toushiro exclaimed, shoving Rangiku off. "She's just a human girl, nothing more!"

"Oh Captain, you're so cute!" Rangiku said giddily, clapping her hands and hopping up and down. "Denying that you like a human girl! The captain has a crush!"

"'Bout time you started looking," Ichigo said, as Toushiro's ears started to become red with what they thought was embarrassment, but was actually anger. "For a while now, I thought that you didn't even have an interest in wo-"

Before Toushiro could say anything to shut up the substitute Shinigami and his lieutenant, Rukia came up behind the two of them and, despite her height compared to theirs, she reached up and cracked their heads together. Both clutched at their heads, moaning as Rukia said, "Shut up the both of you."

"Thank you, Kuchiki," Toushiro said as he turned and walked to class. Rukia nodded as she walked alongside him, both of them leaving Ichigo and Rangiku behind with aching heads.

When they walked into the classroom, the first thing Toushiro looked at was the windowsill, hoping to see the girl named Talim. She wasn't there. At first he thought that she would approach him and start questioning him about last night. Toushiro let out a small sigh of relief before joining the others near one of the other windows. He dropped his bag on his desk as he sat down in the seat. He gave Rangiku a look as the busty woman sat on the edge of his desk but he didn't say anything. Ichigo leaned against the windowsill beside Renji and Chad, Rukia and Orihime stood near Toushiro's desk and Ishida sat at his desk next to Toushiro. "Did you find out anything last night?" Toushiro asked, looking at Renji.

"No, nothing," Renji said, shaking his head. "It's like the reiatsu doesn't exist."

Ichigo sighed and rubbed his forehead. "We've fought Arrancar, Aizen and his army, Bounto… how come we can't find a source of a reiatsu?"

"Maybe because whatever it is," Ishida said, pushing up his glasses, "has a way of hiding it so even the strongest Shinigami cannot find them."

"Which could make them a potential danger to us, Soul Society and the real world," Toushiro said, leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms. "That's why I decided to get us some more help; the more the better."

"Huh?" Orihime asked, tilting her head slightly. "What do you mean, Toushiro?"

"You will see at lunch break. Everyone meet up on the roof then." At that moment, the teacher walked in and everyone went to their seat. Toushiro settled into his seat and began rummaging through his bag, looking for his school stuff.

Suddenly the roar of a Hollow sounded outside. He looked out the window and saw the monster moving around in the field, making its way towards the school where it probably sensed the reiatsus of Shinigamis and humans with high spiritual power. All of those who could see the Hollow, mainly the Shinigamis, Ichigo and his friends, kept glancing out the window, watching the Hollow approach.

Before Toushiro could do anything, Ichigo raised his hand and said, "Sorry, but I need to see the nurse."

"And I need to use the bathroom," Rukia said after him, also raising her hand.

The teacher blinked at the both of them, but she nodded and let them go. Both Ichigo and Rukia took off and a few moments later, Toushiro looked out the window to see the two of them in their Shinigami forms, fighting the Hollow. In a few moments, Ichigo sliced the Hollow in two and ten minutes after they left, Rukia came back, followed by Ichigo with a band-aid on his arm. "Needed an excuse to see the nurse," Ichigo whispered to Toushiro as he sat back down in his seat in front of him.

Toushiro shook his head, but he had to hand it to him; they definitely had it down when it came to taking out Hollows while in school. Finally the bell sounded, indicating that it was the lunch break. He stood up and with the others walking with him, he headed up to the roof. They got up to the roof and with Ichigo yelling at a few underclassmen to beat it, they were alone, able to talk freely without having to worry about anyone else overhearing. They waited for the mystery girl to appear.

"So what is your plan, Toushiro?" Orihime asked as she pulled out her lunch consisting of a peanut butter and dill chip sandwich.

"Wait a minute…" Toushiro replied, looking around. He was beginning to wonder if she was going to come at all, or that she decided that she didn't want to deal with Shinigami or Hollows. Then she appeared from behind a wall and she walked out, her elbow blades in hand. She blinked at the sight of them and asked, "Are you all Shinigami?"

"No," Ichigo said. "All Shinigami raise your hands." He, Rukia, Rangiku, Renji and Toushiro raised their hands. "The others just have their own powers, except Ishida is a Quincy."

"Oh," Talim said, sitting down next to Toushiro. She tossed her braids from where they had fallen over her shoulder before she started to take her seat.

"So, you're plan Captain Hitsugaya?" Renji asked.

Talim looked at Toushiro and asked, "'Captain'?"

"I'm Captain of the Tenth Division of the Gotei 13," Toushiro said as he leaned back against the wall, folding his arms. Then he proceeded to explain to Talim about the Gotei 13 and Soul Society as briefly as he could, but enough so that she would know what it was about. Surprisingly, she understood everything he told her and asked only a couple questions.

"So, you said you could 'use' me," Talim said once Toushiro finished his explanation. "What did you mean?"

"The Captain–Commander sent us here to look for a strong reiatsu that could possibly be a danger to this world and Soul Society," Toushiro told her. "You can sense reiatsus, so you could help us."

Talim frowned and said, "Why would you need me? Couldn't you find it easily?"

"We sense it, sure," Rangiku said, shrugging. "But before we can head towards it and find the source, it vanishes."

"So I thought that the more people we have looking for it, the better, and we'll be able to locate it," Toushiro said.

"What will you do once you find it?" Talim asked.

"We either find a way to remove the reiatsu and retain it…"

"But I thought that's impossible?" Talim said. Everyone looked at her curiously and she grimaced slightly. "I know a little bit more than most normal people."

Toushiro frowned but didn't ask. "But we may have to destroy the source itself," he finished.

Talim nodded and took a sip out of her water bottle. "So, when do we start?" she asked.

"You should probably meet Urahara first," Rukia said, looking over at Toushiro, who nodded in agreement.

"The candy shop owner Urahara?" Talim said, her eyes widening slightly.

"Yeah," Ichigo said with a slight smirk on his face. "Let's just say that that is our rendezvous point and training area."

Talim seemed to be taking it all in well, Toushiro could help but think. She didn't seem shocked that the world she knew had secrets that were believed to be nothing more than stories. _But she said she'd been dealing with Hollows for a while, so I guess none of this would have come to a shock to her._ He watched as she conversed with the others, talking about various things from stuff about Soul Society and their past battles to the basic chit-chat. She seemed to settle with them easily and he couldn't sense any unease from her.

_Come to think of it,_ he suddenly thought with a frown. _I can't seem to sense _anything _from her. Even her reiatsu is so faint that one wouldn't think that she was able to see spirits. It's like she's completely blocked off..._ Toushiro stored his thoughts in another part of his mind to go through later as the bell sounded. He watched her as she stood in a fluid movement as she continued to talk with Rukia, her hair being pulled back revealed the smooth curves of her neck that wasn't hidden by her necklace. He couldn't help but look her over. She had long, muscle-toned legs and stomach and the rest of her body was toned with muscle that shifted under her smooth tanned skin. Her jet black hair was smooth and glossy and seemed to glint blue in the sunlight. Her eyes, a chocolate brown, were soft but held a fierce fire to them as well. He felt the stirring sensation inside of him, more so when he heard her laugh.

"See… you are goo-goo eyeing her, Captain," Rangiku said softly beside him.

Toushiro jumped slightly, not even realizing that his lieutenant had been there, and then shot her his signature glare. "I'm not…"

"Yay, the Captain likes a girl from the real world!" Rangiku said happily.

"That's not it…"

"It's okay to admit it. You don't have to be shy…"

"Shut up, that's enough!"

"Hey, is everything alright?"

Toushiro blinked and looked around to see Talim looking at him and Rangiku. He felt his face tinge with red as Rangiku giggled beside him. _She's going to regret this when we get back._ "It's nothing," he told her. He then looked at Talim and said, "We are heading back inside. We'll you meet at Urahara's afterward." He then turned and headed back into the school building. _Goo-goo eyeing... whatever..._

**.:x:.**

Talim walked to Urahara's shop after she heard the bell and stopped her meditating. She was acting casual, even though her insides were turning from all the information she'd gained during lunch. _Shinigami... Hollows... Soul Society... so much to take in such a short period of time. I knew that Hollows existed, but I never thought that Shinigami and Soul Society did as well. Sure, I had suspicions, but still..._ She then heard a deep and somewhat stoic voice behind her say, "Talim." She looked around and saw Toushiro leaning against one of the trees that were in front of the building, his arms folded over his chest. He pushed off of the tree with one foot and walked up to her. He stood only two or so inches taller than her, so she didn't have to look up at him too much. "Will you allow me to walk you there?"

"Um… sure," Talim said.

"Come on," Toushiro said, starting to walk.

Not wanting to be left behind, Talim quickened her step so she would walk beside him. She looked around, wondering if the others were going to show, before asking, "Where are the others?"

"I told them to go on ahead, and Kurosaki and Abarai are on patrol so they will meet up with us later," Toushiro replied without looking over at her.

Talim nodded and then she glanced around, hoping that her walk from the other day wouldn't be a repeat. But who knows, this was Karakura Town. She heard a beeping beside her and she looked around to see Toushiro with his phone out, just like when she saw him on the street light last night. "Why are you always playing with that?" she asked.

"I'm not 'playing'," he replied as his punched a few buttons. "This is a Shinigami Cellular Phone. It's a radar for Hollows and it allows me to track them and I receive orders from this as well. I can also send reports to the Captain-Commander with this as well."

Talim just shrugged and said, "It's just I always see you with it."

"I'm a Captain," he said. "I have my duties."

"Are you always so uptight?"

"What?" he asked, snapping his phone shut and looking at her.

Talim stopped and crossed her arms. Toushiro stopped as well and turned to look at her, his deep sea-blue eyes fixed onto her brown ones. Although he stared at her with eyes cold as ice, she didn't back down. "Why are you so cold, for someone your age? You would think that you were an adult, even though you look not a year older than me."

"Don't let my looks deceive you," he said, his voice as cold as his eyes. Talim swore she felt the temperature drop, like it did when she hit him with a soccer ball last night, except to the point where it raised goose-bumps on her skin. "I am over ten times older than you are. I have my duties as captain, and I see to it that I follow through with them. I don't have time to fool around."

Talim sighed and said, "You sound like you didn't have a childhood…"

"I was an orphan," he replied, "so you could say that I didn't, seeing as I had to look after myself."

Talim then matched her glare with Toushiro's, an angry fire building up inside her. "Not all orphans act the way you do," she stated in a voice as icy as his. She then turned and began to walk down the sidewalk.

"Hey," he called out behind her. "Where are you going?"

She didn't even answer him. She was mad and when she was mad, she had to walk away from the source of her anger before she hit something. So she ignored him, instead heading towards the park. _If he wants to follow, he can look for me. I won't make it easy for him. He's a Shinigami, so he can find me like the big boy captain he is..._


	4. Chapter 4

Toushiro growl softly under his breath as he headed in the direction Talim took off in, although by this time, he had _no_ idea where she went. After she took off, he had gone ahead to Urahara's, figuring that she would show up once she cooled her head, although why she'd gotten so angry, he had no idea. But after an hour, he found himself beginning to worry a little, so he set out to look for her in his Shinigami form so he could move through the town quicker. But her reiatsu was so faint that he couldn't locate it among all the others in that town and that was what was frustrating. _Damn woman,_ he thought as he ran over the roof tops, searching for her. _Why did she have to take off, without telling me where she was going? She could end up being attacked by another Menos and will probably be devoured by the time I get to her._

He ended up going to the park, hoping that she was there, because he couldn't think of anywhere else she would be. He moved through the large area and let out a sigh of relief when he found her sitting on one of the swings. He landed lightly on the branch of a nearby tree and sat, his back leaning against the trunk, arms and legs folded, and he watched her for a moment, trying to find his cool now that he found her and the small bit of worry he had held for her was gone. She just swayed back and forth on the swing, her eyes on the ground. She seemed lost in thought and somewhat sad, and he hadn't the faintest idea why. She always seemed so full of fire, so when looking her like this, Toushiro was beginning to wonder if this was the same Talim who flared up at him only two hours ago.

After some time, Talim sighed and stood up, walking away she said loudly, "You can stop hiding now, Toushiro. I know you're there."

Toushiro blinked, forgetting that she could sense reiatsus as easily as himself, before composing his features as she turned and looked up at him on his tree branch. "You shouldn't have taken off like that," he told her.

Talim placed her hands on her hips and glared at him. "Would you have rather me punch your face in and knock you flat, 'cause that's what I'd felt like doing."

"Probably," Toushiro said, standing and jumping from the branch, landing lightly on the ground below, before walking towards her. "Then I wouldn't have spent an hour looking for you."

Talim raised an eyebrow and asked, "Took you an hour?" Then she smirked, crossed her arms and said, "You're not much of a captain, if it took you an hour."

_Okay, so she's still mad at me... least she doesn't want to hit me anymore._ "Why are you so mad?"

"Why are you such a jerk?"

Toushiro stared at her, lost for words. This girl was incredible! No one that Toushiro could think of spoke with him like this before. Before he could think of a reply, the air seemed to tremble as a powerful reiatsu washed over them, followed by a powerful wind. Toushiro rose up an arm and moved in front of Talim as the reiatsu faded, only to be replaced by a loud roar of a Hollow.

"Where did the Hollow come from?" Talim asked, her eyes widening. "I didn't sense its reiatsu until now."

"Stand back," Toushiro said, unsheathing his Zanpakuto as the Hollow appeared from the forest, knocking down several trees in its wake. The Hollow resembled a giant black and red boar with three long whip-like tails. It opened its mouth wide and roared, its reiatsu creating a powerful wind. Toushiro released his own reiatsu, causing the temperature to drop. He jumped up high, swinging his Zanpakuto as he cried out, "Souten ni Zase, Hyourinmaru!" The ice dragon formed as the sky darkened with thick gray clouds. He swung his sword, sending the dragon towards the approaching Hollow.

The Hollow roared and jumped at Toushiro, somehow dodging Hyourinmaru, and used one of his tusks to hurtle him into the forest. He crashed into three trees before finally skidding to a stop, his back slamming against the trunk of a tree. The Hollow landed heavily in front of him, roaring as it did. _How...?_ was all Toushiro thought as he pushed himself to his feet, slightly disoriented. The Hollow took that advantage and lunged forward for another attack. Toushiro brought his Zanpakuto up to hopefully block the attack and not sustain _too_ much damage.

Suddenly a figure came up between him and the Hollow. He watched as Talim slammed her fist into the center of the Hollow's forehead, creating a flash of pale blue light, before flipping backward, kicking the Hollow and pushing off of it, causing it to roar in pain. She landed at a crouch a few feet away from Toushiro. She lifted her head up and swept her hair from her face as she turned to Toushiro. "Take it out now," she told him.

Toushiro ignored the fact that she practically gave him an order. He launched himself at the Hollow and swung his sword down, slicing the Hollow in half. He landed behind the disintegrating Hollow and slowly turned to look at where Talim stood. Her reiatsu remained the same. "How were you able to do that?" he demanded.

Talim shrugged as she walked by him. "I've been able to do that for a while," she told him. "Like I told you before, I'm a priestess so I can hit them and it hurts them long enough so I can get away. I can purify them like you can."

"Your reiatsu is too weak for a power like that," Toushiro said, sheathing his sword as he followed her.

"I don't know what to tell you…"

"Are you hiding something?"

Talim spun around and placed her fists of her hips. "If I was," she replied, "why would I tell you?"

Toushiro stopped and glared at her. "What is wrong with you?" he asked. "Ever since the end of school, you've been…"

"About ready to bite your head off?"

"Yeah…"

Talim stomped over to him and shoved a finger at his chest. "I just don't like the way you treat me," she told him. Before he could give a retort, she cut him off. "You act all superior, and sure you may be a captain of Soul Society, but remember, I ain't one of your subordinates. I'm trying to be a friend here and help you out since you asked me. I can easily say 'forget it' and refuse to help and not even acknowledge your existence, although that's pretty hard for someone who can see and sense souls, but hey, I'll manage. Now, are you going to stop being a jerk and be civil with me, or do we need to continue with this conversation?"

Toushiro looked at the girl and could see that she meant what she said. _She's definitely got spunk and spirit... there is a certain fire to her..._ He released a sigh and said, "Alright, I get it. We can deal."

"Truce then?"

"Not exactly a truce, but sure, I can be civil."

"Well, we'll see about that."

**.:x:.**

"So she can injure Hollows and purify them," Urahara said, waving his fan excitedly. "Hmm… well that is interesting seeing your low reiatsu is."

"Seems like everyone is saying that," Talim grumbled, crossing her arms.

"Perhaps your reiatsu is being blocked, in a way that Shinigami can hide theirs. Something must automatically hide your reiatsu, which in a way is very beneficial in your part. That's why you can see souls, sense reiatsus and use spiritual power, but seem like your reiatsu is too low for you be able to do such things."

"Maybe," Toushiro said. "But whatever it may be, I think it'll be ideal to train her, so she can become stronger and use her power, but not lose control over it."

"Yes, that would be," Urahara said, looking at Talim. "What do you say, Talim?"

Talim nodded and said, "Sure."

"Excellent!" Urahara exclaimed happily. "Training will start right away… tomorrow!"

"I thought you said 'right away'?" Ichigo asked.

"Yeah," Renji pointed out. "What you said kind of contradicts itself."

"Shut up," Toushiro said, standing up. "It doesn't matter. Her training starts tomorrow, but it doesn't mean we'll slack off on the mission at hand. The sooner we find it, the better." Then he started to leave the back room and head out. "I'm going out. Matsumoto…"

"Yes, Captain," the busty blonde said, standing to join her captain and then the two of the shunpoed out of the store.

"Could I learn to do that?" Talim asked, indicating the flash stepping the two Shinigami had just performed.

"I don't believe so, but who knows in your case," Urahara stated, pulling down the brim of his hat.

"So who will she be training with?" Ichigo asked the shop owner.

"I was thinking Yoruichi, since Talim seems to be in the more hand to hand combat way of fighting." Urahara then looked at Talim and smiled. "Do not worry, everything should turn out alright. Your powers are somewhat similar to what Orihime and Chad possess. You may possibly train with them when you reach a certain stage in your power."

Talim just nodded and then she stood. "Um, Mr. Urahara..." she begin

"Oh, please, just call me Urahara. The Mr. thing makes me feel so old."

"You are over a thousand years old!" Ichigo exclaimed. "You _are _old!"

Rukia punched Ichigo knocking him out.

"What is it Talim" Urahara asked.

"Well I was hoping maybe I could stay here till we find that thing they are looking for. I don't have any place to stay. I've been sleeping in the streets and-"

"Of course," Urahara said cheerfully. "But I think you should be registered for school so you can help them a lot more and them keep an eye on you. So tomorrow you will began school and begin your training here tomorrow after they school."

"Okay thank you so much. I'm going to sit out side for a bit." Talim nodded and heading out, stepping out into the twilight. She walked down the sidewalk, her way lit up by street lights that gave off a pool of orange light every twenty feet. She watched the ground in front of her pass, lost in thought. _Everything has changed so quickly in the past two days... Shinigami... Hollows... Soul Society... all of that had been stories until yesterday, when I ran into..._ She then frowned as she muttered, "It all started when Toushiro saved me in the forest. When I saw his eyes for the first time I felt a small tingle inside of me… like a jolt of electricity… I wonder what it could have been…"

"You shouldn't be walking alone at this time of night."

Talim spun around and swung a fist forward, but Toushiro caught it with his own hand before it could connect. She glared at him as she pulled her hand back and said, "Don't do that. And how do you just ?"

"Sorry, but I thought you would know it was me," he said, frowning. "Didn't you sense my reiatsu?"

"Uh… not really…" Talim said sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. "I was kinda lost in thought…" She then turned and continued walking, knowing that he was going to walk with her anyway. Just like she thought, he walked alongside her, keeping his steps with her own.

"What were you thinking about?" he asked her.

"Just stuff, really," she replied. "Basically everything that's happened in the past two days. It's a lot to comprehend."

"Are you going to back down?"

"No." Talim said, shaking her head. "Like I said, just thinking." She then stopped at Urahara's Shop.

"Um, do you not have more... decent clothing?" he asked, looking away blushing.

Talim smiled sadly while shaking her head. "No, not really. I've been fighting a lot lately so I've been wearing my fighting gear because its comfortable, but I do have more clothes that are not as revealing as most in my bag. Does my clothes bother you?"

Toushiro was speechless. "N-No."

**_Very convencing..._**

_Shut up you stupid dragon..._

"Well tomorrow's my first day of school. I'm kinda nervous, I've never been in school before."

"Where are you from exactly, for there not to be any school education?"

"Asia."

"Asia! What are you doing in Japan?"

"I just finished a mission and was on my way back home." Talim smiled and then turned to Toushiro. She smiled brightly, "Be safe…" before turning back around and heading inside.

Toushiro blushed forgetting what he was going to say and turned mumbling, "See you tomorrow."


	5. Chapter 5

"My name is Yoruichi Shihouin," the violet haired, golden eyed woman standing before Talim said. "Kisuke said that you need to be trained, yes?"

"Yeah," Talim said, nodding.

"The tactics you use are related to Hakuda, bare-hand military combat," Yoruichi said, "something I profess in, you could say. I'll be teaching you different moves of Hakuda that the Secret Mobile Corps in Soul Society are taught, but they will be the basic moves, just enough so you can fight Hollows. I'll also show you how to use your spirit power with these attacks, to make them more powerful. I won't go easy on you and the training will be hard and difficult. Are you ready?"

"Yes ma'am," Talim said, nodding. The young girl stood facing Yoruichi in the training grounds that was, somehow, under Urahara's shop. She had her elbow blades and took a fighting stance, showing Yoruichi that she was indeed ready.

Yoruichi smiled and nodded. Then she shunpoed at the girl and attacked and so Talim's training began.

Toushiro watched from the top of one of the cliffs that covered the training ground, watching as Talim blocked Yoruichi's attacks and dealing some of her own, all the while Yoruichi speaking sharply at the young girl, either commenting or telling her how to do a certain move. Yoruichi moved at a normal pace at first, but after a few hours she moved at a quicker pace. But when Yoruichi sped up, Talim did as well, using her wind powers to speed up. He couldn't help but feel amazement; the girl learned fast and she was good. When she fell, she just stood up and continued onward. Although Yoruichi was fast, Talim landed a few hits onto the Goddess of Flash. As he watched, Talim was flung backward towards a cliff face, but she somehow managed to twist her body so her feet planted on the vertical rocky surface, settling into a crouched position. Dust flew around her as she looked down at Yoruichi, one hand gripping the rocky side, her other arm outstretched to steady herself. She gave a smirk before shoving off and, flipping in mid-air, landed on the ground before launching another attack at her teacher.

"Enough," Yoruichi said after another hour of training, jumping up onto a cliff top and looking down at Talim. The woman crossed her arms and smiled at the younger woman. "You did well today," she said. "We'll continue this tomorrow." Then she left, leaving Talim and Toushiro alone in the training area.

Talim bent over and rested her hands on her knees, breathing heavily. Toushiro stood up and jumped down to join her, saying, "You did well."

She looked up at him and smiled. "Yeah, well," she said around small pants, "this comes natural to me anyway, so…"

Toushiro chuckled slightly and then turned towards the stairs that led back up to the shop. "Let's go," he said.

"Ay, ay Captain," Talim said, grinning as she jogged past.

"Hey, are you mocking my rank?"

"Maybe…"

"Talim!"

Talim laughed as she ran up the stairs and Toushiro headed up after her. When he reached the top, he saw her standing near the doorway. "Hey," she said, leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed, her hair now loose and falling around her shoulders. "Get into your gigai. You're taking a day off."

Toushiro blinked at what she said. "Day… off…" he repeated.

"What? You sound like you've never heard those two words put together before," Talim said, laughing. "Come on, I already talked to Matsumoto, Ichigo and the others and they agree with me and said that they've got the search covered for the rest of the evening and night. So, let's go!"

He sighed, knowing that he wasn't going to be able to get out of it, but making a note to rip Matsumoto a new one when he saw her again, as well as Ichigo. So a half hour later, Toushiro found himself walking down the sidewalk beside Talim. It was still light out, but a little cool with the fall season. His gigai wore jeans torn at the knee, black and gray sneakers and a black polo shirt with the buttons undone. Talim dressed in a white top accompanied by a green vest, once again revealing her slender paunch. Her hair appears to lighter and been banded in two thick braids. Her pants are, to Toushiro's dismay, were transparent. They walked in silence for a while before he said, "Hey, what are we doing then?"

Talim looked at him and said, "What ever we run into." Then she began to run, calling out behind her, "Come on!"

"Hey, Talim!" he exclaimed, running after her. He caught up to her, but she didn't stop running, so he just matched his pace with hers and ran alongside her. They reached the park and it was then that Talim slowed to a walk, breathing heavily but evenly. Toushiro looked at her and asked, "What was that for?"

"Have you ever just had the urge to run, with no real destination?" she asked, looking at him, her eyes locking with his. "But just run to feel the wind on your face, and get the feeling that you're free?" She looked skyward and said, "I get that feeling all the time. Sometimes, I run for such a long time… I lose track of time when I run." She then smiled sheepishly and said, "I must sound stupid…"

"No… well, kinda… ow!" Toushiro rubbed his arm where Talim punched him playfully.

"Thanks Toushiro…" she said, but with a smile. Then she grabbed his hand and said, "I know where we can go now. Come on, follow me." She then led him into the woods, walking through the shadows with no fear. He followed her, his hand still in hers but he didn't bother to pull away. _What's going on with me...?_

They walked through the woods for quite a while, to the point where the sun had set and the stars began dotting the sky one by one. After a while, they came into a clearing with a small crystal-clear pool at the center surrounded by large boulders. White flowers dotted the land around the clearing, seeming to glow in the starlight and the light of the moon that was slowly rising over the treetops. Toushiro blinked at the sight of the place as Talim led him to the pools edge. "Where are we?" he asked.

"I found this place, and it's also the place where we first met," Talim replied, letting go of his hand and crawling up onto a boulder to sit on it. "I was just exploring and I found this place. If you pay close attention, you can feel a reiatsu coming from the water."

Toushiro leaned against the boulder Talim sat on and concentrated. Sure enough, he could sense a faint reiatsu coming from the water. "I wonder what's causing it."

"I think that something very powerful happened here," Talim said, wrapping her arms around her upraised knees. "Something dealing with powerful spirit power, and what we're feeling is the remnants of it."

"Hm… maybe," Toushiro said with a soft grunt. He looked at the water and could see small colorful fish kissing the surface of the water.

The two of them sat in silence for a long while, both lost in their own thoughts. Finally, Talim broke the silence. "I come here a lot, when I have a lot on my mind. It's one place where I feel safe and where I can really think and sort out my emotions. You could say that this place has become my sanctuary."

"When did you arrive here?" Toushiro asked her. "I don't remember seeing you here the last time I was in Karakura Town."

"I came here about six days ago…" She said nothing more, and since she seemed like she didn't want to talk about it, he didn't press it. _Perhaps something happened to her before she came here, and it still pains her to speak of it._

Toushiro sighed and he stood up. "We should head back to the Kurosaki's," he said. "Or else Isshin may have a panic attack."

Talim laughed, her saddened mood vanishing. She stood up and hopped off of her boulder. She then looked towards the woods and said, "It's going to take some time getting back…"

"No," Toushiro said, and then he grasped her arm and swung her up onto his back. Talim squawked and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck in a choking hold. He laughed softly and reached up to loosen her arms a little. "Hold on, but not that tightly."

"O-okay," Talim said, gripping his waist with her thighs and making her arms around his neck and shoulders loose.

Toushiro grasped her thighs right behind her knees to help keep her on his back before he started to run, moving quicker than humans but not as fast as he would in his Shinigami form. He moved easily through the woods, leaping over fallen trees and moving around trees that were still standing.

"How can you do this in your gigai?" Talim asked.

"We can use some of our spirit power in our gigais, but we aren't as strong as we would be out of them. We can use kidou to a certain extent and we're a little stronger and faster than humans."

"Oh," Talim said, and then she pressed her face into the crook of his neck. "Getting kinda dizzy…"

Toushiro just chuckled and said, "We're almost there." Soon enough, they were out of the woods and back into the park. He slowed to a walk and heading towards the direction of the Kurosaki home. Talim lifted her head up slightly and he could hear her take in a small breath of amazement.

"We're already back?"

"Yeah, told you it wouldn't take so long," he said, looking at her.

Talim smiled and then she went a slight shade of pink. "Umm… can I get down now?" she asked.

Toushiro felt himself redden slightly and he nodded. "Yeah…" He let her slide off his back and she stepped up to walk beside him. The two of them continued to head towards the Kurosaki residence, neither speaking. Once they reached the house, Toushiro looked at Talim and said, "You coming in?"

Talim shrugged and said, "Sure… seeing as I'm part of the Shinigamis in your mission, might as well hear what Ichigo has to report."

Toushiro nodded and he walked inside, Talim following. As he suspected, he was immediately pounced on by Isshin Kurosaki, Ichigo's father and former Shinigami Captain, who was now a little on the senile side, although most of the time Toushiro believed that it was an act, but one could never be too sure about it.

"Toushiro!" Isshin exclaimed wildly. "Where have you been?! I began to worry when you didn't arrive home with Ichigo and when he told me he had no idea where you went! What happened to you? I was so worried about you! Why must you terrify me in such…"

"Hey! Shut it up already!" Karin Kurosaki said, throwing a punch at her father's face and sending him across the room. "Leave Toushiro alone, will ya? Can't you see he was only out with someone?!"

Isshin looked up from where he was sprawled out on the floor in the other room. "Is that a girl with Toushiro?" Suddenly, the older man began to wail and he jumped up to stagger over to the large picture of Masaki Kurosaki. "Oh Masaki! Our little Whitey-chan is growing up and dating women! Our adopted son is going to get married!"

Karin sighed wearily as Toushiro palm-faced himself lightly. Talim just stared at Isshin weeping at the large picture and asked, "Is he always like that?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Ichigo said, coming down the stairs, giving a smirk to the two of them. "Welcome to the family, Toushiro, although I have no idea when _that_ happened…"

"For the last time, it's Captain Hitsugaya to you," Toushiro replied, crossing his arms.

"Probably when Toushiro hung out with me," Karin pointed out. "Remember how he became all flustered when he heard about the soccer game."

"Oh yeah…" Ichigo said. "I think you were adopted into the family then, along with Rangiku, Rukia and Renji… or maybe it was when you guys moved in for this mission… I don't know sometimes with him…" Ichigo looked over at his father again and sighed. "I really don't feel like dealing with him tonight…" He looked over at Talim and Toushiro. "Wanna head out and get something to eat?"

"Sure," Talim said, nodding. "Is Rukia or someone else here to come with us?"

"Yeah," Ichigo said, nodding. "Rukia is here. Lemme get her. HEY! RUKIA! GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE!"

"Must you always yell, Ichigo," Rukia said, coming down the stairs a minute later.

"It's easier than going up the stairs," Ichigo replied, shrugging.

"That's because you're lazy," Rukia said before elbowing him in the side. "Where are we going?"

"Out," Toushiro said.

Rukia frowned and then she saw Isshin crying a river next to the picture of Masaki and then nodded. "Yeah, let's go…"

"Don't leave me, Rukia!" Kon cried, throwing himself down from the stairs at Rukia. She sighed and, grabbing the lion plushie by his head, shoved him in her hand bag.

"We ready now?" Toushiro asked irritably as Talim giggled softly beside him.

"Yes," Ichigo said, still rubbing his side. Then the four of them headed out as quickly as possible just as Karin began to pound her father into the wall, yelling that he needed to stop crying and grow up.

**.:x:.**

"What are you getting, Toushiro?" Ichigo asked.

Talim saw Toushiro frown at Ichigo calling him by his first name again, but he didn't say anything. The young captain was looking at the menu, contemplating on what to choose from all the food listed. "Who knows…? I've never had any of this before…"

"Are you telling me that you've never eaten anything on this menu before?" Ichigo exclaimed. "You've never had a freakin' hamburger?!"

"No…"

"What the hell… you were here for almost a year during the whole Aizen crisis! You didn't find time to have a hamburger during that entire period?!"

"No…"

"What the…?"

"Ichigo," Rukia said, cutting the orange-haired Shinigami from his ranting. "Leave him alone. We didn't have time for much during the Winter War."

"Yeah, guess you're right, but still…"

"I don't know what I'm getting either. I've never seen food like this before, but this looks good. Why don't you get it with me," Talim suggested, laying her menu open in front of her so Toushiro could see it. The four of them sat a booth in the back, Talim and Toushiro on one side, Ichigo and Rukia in the other. "The Honey Barbeque Bacon Cheeseburger with the side of fries, like me. It looks pretty good."

"Alright," Toushiro said, closing his menu and lightly tossing it to the end of the table against the wall.

"Whoa, I never knew a girl who would order that," Ichigo said, closing his own menu.

Talim shrugged and said, "I like my meat. Where do you think I get my strength behind those punches from?"

Ichigo just shrugged and took a drink from his soda that their waitress had given them. Talim rolled her eyes, thinking, _Typical men... Shinigami or not._

Their waitress came back and took their orders. When she walked off, Toushiro leaned back and crossed his arms, looking at Ichigo. "Did you find anything, Kurosaki?"

"Nadda…" Ichigo replied, rubbing the back of his head. "None of us have sensed that reiatsu since your guys' first night here. We can't find anything that would hold that much spirit force… But we have noticed that the Hollow population is a little higher than usual."

"They may be doing what we are doing," Rukia said. "They must have heard of the powerful reiatsu and now are coming to the real world to get a chance to find it and devour it."

"Oh no," Talim said, sighing. "Now we have to deal with more Hollows."

"Looks like it," Toushiro said. "I've noticed that as well. And these Hollows aren't exactly weak either, like the one Talim and I fought. It somehow dodged Hyourinmaru. I thought that it was a fluke, but now that I think of it…" He shook his head, clearly frustrated. "Something is going on…"

"Do you think some old followers of Aizen are sending the Hollows out to find that strong reiatsu?" Ichigo asked.

"Who knows…? Talim? What is it?"

Talim was jolted out of her thoughts. "Oh…" she said. "It's just… every time one of you say 'Aizen', it triggers something in my memory."

"Like what?" Rukia asked, frowning.

Talim just shook her head. "It's probably nothing," she said. "I've might have heard it somewhere else or something…" She could see Toushiro looking at her, could feel his icy eyes boring into her head, and could feel his reiatsu spike just slightly in what she recognized from him was worry. _Aizen... why does that sound so familiar..._ Before she could dwell on it more, their orders arrived, so Talim pushed it all into the darkest corner of her mind to deal with later.

She ate a few fries before diving into her burger. Ichigo was already chowing down on a triple cheeseburger while Rukia ate a chicken Caesar salad. She looked over at Toushiro and saw him holding his burger in his hands, looking at it strangely. He finally took a bite out of it, chewing slowly. "What do you think? Good huh?" Talim asked.

He swallowed and shrugged. "It's alright," he said, although Talim sensed his reiatsu saying that he thoroughly enjoyed it and thought it tasted good. She smiled slightly and began to eat her own dinner, quite content with the company she held.


	6. Chapter 6

In the following week, Toushiro watched as Talim became stronger and gained more skills than she'd possessed before. But although he was quite impressed and slightly proud that the young human girl's training was going so well, he couldn't help but become frustrated at the fact that in the several days that they've been in the real world, they only sensed that powerful reiatsu once and it was only for a few seconds. A week later and still no sign of it or its source. By week three, Toushiro was way over frustrated.

The only thing that seemed to calm him slightly was Talim. He didn't know _how_ the girl did it, but every time he saw her when he walked into the classroom every morning, the pressure in his mind seemed to lighten and even more so when he spoke with her. He soon found himself anticipating seeing her every time he woke up, but he didn't let the others know about it, especially Ichigo and Rangiku; those two would _never_ let him down with it. When he gave report to Yammato, through the large communication screen that they'd used during their last time in the real world, he had mentioned Talim's help in the mission and the Captain-Commander said that as long as she didn't cause any trouble, she could help just like Ichigo's friends did. Toushiro had also told him about Talim's power and he knew that the Captain-Commander was quite impressed with what he heard, although he didn't show it.

They'd been in the real world for almost a month now and it was well into the autumn season. The once green leaves were an assortment of burnished golds, reds, yellows and browns. The air was a lot crisper and cooler, causing everyone to wear heavier jackets when they went outside. Toushiro had a feeling that they would still be here by the snow season.

"Looks like you guys will be here for Christmas," Ichigo said as they walked to class.

"Probably," Toushiro said, nodding. The two of them walked into the classroom and the first thing Toushiro did was look for Talim. It came as quite a shock when she wasn't in the room. He saw her three friends in their usual spot talking, but there was no sign of the dark beauty.

"She wasn't in homeroom this morning…"

Toushiro looked around at Orihime who had come up to him when she noticed who he was looking for. "What?" he asked, surprised the usual air-headed young woman noticed his slight disappointment of not seeing . Then again, Toushiro knew that there was more to Orihime than what meets the eye, which she'd shown during the Winter War.

"Talim never showed up in homeroom this morning," Orihime repeated, talking quietly so Ichigo and the others wouldn't overhear. "The teacher said she called out today and would probably be out for a couple days."

Toushiro frowned but nodded his thanks to Orihime. He sat down at his desk and allowed himself to slip and get lost into his thoughts. He found himself throughout the entire day wondering about the girl missing from the seat behind him and was only shaken from his thoughts at the end of class when Ichigo jabbed him between the eyes with the eraser of his pencil.

"What the hell is your problem today, eh Toushiro?" the younger Shinigami asked.

"Nothing… go away…"

"You're thinking about Talim, aren't you?"

"No I'm not…"

"Liar."

"Shut up…"

Ichigo smirked and said, "I figured as much…" Then his face became serious as he said, "I'm kind of worried as well. She's never missed class like this, and without warning. She was fine last night."

"I know," Toushiro said.

"If you want to go look for her after school, I'll take over your shift."

Toushiro blinked in surprise. "Kurosaki…"

"I don't mind, really. Just do what you have to do, and I won't say anything to Rangiku either. I know that she can be a pain. I'll just make something up if she asks."

Toushiro gave the other man a small, but grateful, smile. "Thank you…" he said. For the first time in a long while since he first met him, he found himself liking more of Ichigo Kurosaki than he'd had before.

**.:x:.**

Right after school, Toushiro went back to the Kurosaki residence to change out of his school clothing into regular street clothes before heading in the direction of Urahara's place. The man told him that Talim went to the orpanage on the other side of town. As he walked through town, wearing a light jacket to keep out the chilly breeze, even though he was somewhat accustomed to the cold, and a red scarf hanging loosely from his neck, he tried to remember the streets to turned onto and the name of the street they actually lived on.

Finally he came to the front of the long drive, right outside of town. He started to walk up it, leaving the sounds of the town behind as he walked into the woods. The driveway was now covered in a thick blanket of gold and red leaves, the trees' branches above him almost bare. Hands in the pockets of his jacket, Toushiro continued to trudge up the driveway. It was about a half-mile long and when he began to turn a corner, he could see a house through the branches of the trees. He turned the corner and stood outside a clearing where a large old brown house with a deck going around stood in the center. The house was shingled and probably had been painted once, but the paint had peeled away long ago. But through the windows, Toushiro could see nice white curtains hanging and the shingles on the roof looked, if not new, seemingly well kept. All in all, the whole house seemed well kept, despite its age.

Sighing, Toushiro walked up the walkway to the porch, climbed its steps, and stopped in front of the doorway. From where he stood, Toushiro could hear the sounds of children laughing and playing. He raised his hand and loudly knocked on the door, and then stepped back a little to wait. After a while, the door opened, revealing an old woman who was slightly hunched with age, possibly well into her seventies. She had long silvery gray hair tied into a braid and she wore a simple brown skirt that fell to the floor and a white shirt with a knitted gray and brown shawl over her shoulders. She gripped a cane in her wrinkled hand, but what startled Toushiro the most was the woman's eyes; they were the deepest shade of green he'd ever seen and they seemed to stare into his very soul.

"May I help you?" she asked. Her voice was surprisingly clear for her age, but it held a great deal of wisdom and long years in it.

"I'm looking for Talim… Talim?" he asked. "She's here, right?"

"Ah, Talim," the old woman said, smiling fondly. "Yes, she is here. Would you like to come in?"

Toushiro nodded and the old woman stepped aside to let him in. He gave his thanks with a slight bow. He then looked around the house.

He was standing in a large front room with a stairway before him that had carpeted steps and darkly polished handrails on either side. The stairs led to the second floor that was opened like a balcony before him, the opening making a square of forty-feet-by-forty-feet in the first floors ceiling with railings wrapping around the edge. To his left was an large arched doorway that led to the living room from what he could see and as he walked farther into the house, he saw that the room had a few recliners, couches and simple chairs, a coffee table at the center and a large stone fireplace that had an old but stable looking rocking chair beside it. To the right was a swinging door that he believed led to the kitchen and dining room. The entire house was well kept and decorated with small potted plants, paintings and ornaments on the walls and a chandelier-like light that hung from the ceiling of the second floor over the stairway. Behind the stairway was another doorway with sliding double doors and he could hear the sounds of children coming from beyond those doors and from upstairs.

"Your house is beautiful," he commented, looking at the old woman who stood waiting as he looked over his surroundings.

"Thank you," the woman said, smiling. "It's takes a lot to keep it neat, especially with all the children, but the older ones help me a lot. There is only so much I can do in this old age." Then the old woman chuckled and said, "Forgive me, but you must be wondering who I am. I am Kaede Kimoria, but you can just call me Kaede. No formalities, please."

"Pleased to meet you, Kaede," Toushiro said. "I'm Toushiro Hitsugaya."

"Ah yes, Toushiro," Kaede said with a smile. "I figured it was you, from the description Talim gave me of you. She speaks a great deal of you and the rest of your friends."

Toushiro blinked, slightly surprised. _What does Talim say about us?_ But before he could ask Kaede what Talim had said about them, the doors behind the stairs slid open with a slight bang and five children, three boys and two girls, ranging from six to ten, ran out. The children were laughing and carrying on, not even noticing the two elders by the front door, as they ran up the stairs and around the floor to somewhere above Toushiro.

"Forgive the rowdiness here," Kaede said with a smile. "The children become quite energetic when they come home from school. But come, Talim is upstairs." Kaede began to lead Toushiro up the stairs, using one of the railings as a support. Toushiro walked beside her just in case she needed his assistance. They reached the second floor, which was an opened hallway before him lined with four doors, two on either side. Looking behind him he saw that on the other side of the opening was just a space that had a small set of stairs that he guessed led to an attic. "That leads up to the top floor, which is all opened for the children to play," Kaede said, noticing him looking. Then she led him down the hallway, walking to the first door on the left. "This is where the boys sleep," she said, "and the girls sleep in the room across the hall. We have ten boys who live here and nine girls. I sleep in the next room on this side. These first two rooms are the largest."

"This is quite a family," Toushiro said.

She then opened the door and said, "Talim is in here visiting the kids. She stayed home today to take care of one of the little ones." She walked in and Toushiro followed her.

The room was quite large, with twenty beds that lined the walls on either side, ten on each wall. Each bed had a large wooden chest at the foot and a bedside table between them. Overhead lights lined the ceiling above and a large window was at the far end of the room. The room consisted of blues, greens, reds and other boyish colors. At the last bed on the right laid a tiny boy with no hair and pale skin, his eyes closed as he slept. Sitting on the edge of the bed, her hair in their usual braids, was Talim.

The young woman looked up at their entrance and her eyes widened at the sight of Toushiro. "Toushiro?" she exclaimed, a bit surprised and, which shocked him, slight fear. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see if you were alright," he replied, shrugging. "You didn't show up for school today so we were worried."

Talim smiled sadly and said, "I figured you would be, and I'm sorry, but I needed to stay with Zack." She gestured to the boy lying in the bed who began to have a coughing fit in his sleep.

"I will leave you two," Kaede said, turning back towards the door. "I'm going to start dinner. Will you be staying Toushiro?"

"I'm not sure yet," he replied.

"Well, I'll make a little extra, just in case," Kaede said with a kind smile and then she walked out, closing the door softly behind her. Toushiro realized that the walls were sound resistant so he couldn't hear the sounds of the other children playing in the house.

He took a seat on the bed next to the one the boy slept in as Talim returned to her seat. The boy's coughing had ceased and now he laid there, his breathing uneven. "What's wrong with him?" Toushiro asked, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees.

"He has leukemia… cancer," Talim replied, taking Zack's hand in hers. It looked so small and thin compared to her strong one.

"I'm sorry," Toushiro said, unsure what to say.

"He had it since he was six," Talim said, looking over at him. "He's now fifteen, although he doesn't look it. He went into remission when he was seven, but it came back a year ago and he's been going downhill ever since."

Toushiro looked at the boy, saddened that Talim had to suffer watching a child die. He then remembered his and Kaede's conversation outside the room and he looked back at Talim. "Talim," he said, "Where are these children's parents?"

Talim looked down at the hand she held and for the first time that Toushiro has known her, he saw tears swimming in her eyes. "Their parents… are gone, Toushiro, as are all the parents of the children here. This is an orphanage."


	7. Chapter 7

Talim didn't return to the school for three days and when she finally did, Toushiro swore he felt something lift from his chest when he walked into the class room and saw her there. She had easily fitted right in. She made friends in the popular section. Being as she's never been in a school before things were different for her. She had all classes with Toushiro and was usually sitting with her friends before class started. Only this time, she wasn't standing with her new friends, but with Orihime, Rukia and the others. Although she was talking and laughing with the others, he could see that something was bothering her. But he couldn't help but return the smile that she gave him at his approach. "Hey Toushiro," she said.

"Hey," he replied, sitting in his chair and propping one elbow onto its back. "How are you?"

Talim smiled, "I'm doing just fine. Thank you."

Toushiro nodded and before he could ask what was troubling her, the teacher walked in, ordering all of them to go to their seats. Talim took her seat behind him and the class began to write down notes as the teacher started her lecture. Once the teacher's back was turned as she wrote stuff down onto the black board, Toushiro took out a piece of paper and wrote:

"_What's wrong? Something is bothering you, so don't say otherwise."_

He then folded it and passed the note back, quickly and secretively, to Talim and waited. He could hear the sound of her pen scratching on the paper. Then, somehow, Talim managed to slip the paper back over to him without being seen. He glanced up at the teacher, making sure she wasn't in eyes view, before quickly opening the note and reading Talim's response.

"_You can read me like a book, can't you... but yeah, something is bugging me..."_

Toushiro wrote down and passed back the note, and that's how they kept up the conversation; secretly passing a note back and forth:

"_What is it?"_

"_Ayumi and Kaia... two of my new friends."_

"_What about them?"_

"_They're giving me a hard time because they've seen me with you a lot. They don't like you and think that you're not good enough for me to hang around with."_

"_So that's why you were over here today."_

"_Yeah, I told them that you were a great guy and for them not to judge you by your demeanor."_

"_I love how you put it into that phrase, but thanks..."_

"_Yeah, well, we both know what you're really like."_

"_You hush up..."_

"_Come on, Toushiro, you know you don't really mind... right?"_

Before he could reply, someone in the back called out. "Maduko Sensei! Talim and Toushiro are passing notes!" Everyone looked around, including Toushiro and Talim, to see one of the girls the two of them had been discussing; Ayumi had her hand raised in the air and she was looking pointedly at , a wicked smirk on her face. Toushiro looked at Talim and saw that her face was red with anger. He quickly and unnoticed slipped the folded paper into his pocket as Maduko Sensei walked down the isle towards their desks.

"Hitsugaya, Talim," she demanded, fists on her hips, "is this true?"

Before Talim could say anything, Toushiro leaned back into his seat and stared at the teacher with his usual icy demeanor. "I have no idea what that girl is talking about," he told the teacher.

"But I saw Talim pass something up to him!" Ayumi exclaimed from the back.

"My pen died," Toushiro said, holding up a pen that was sitting on his desk. "I asked her if I could borrow one, so she let me and handed it to me."

"Well then," the teacher said, looking at Talim. "Is that the truth, Talim?"

"Yes," Talim said.

"Then I see no problem here. Hikari, next time you interrupt my class, be sure that it is something important." The rest of the class snickered as the teacher walked back to the front and resumed her lesson.

Toushiro stole a quick glance back at Talim and saw that the girl was looking out the window and for the first time he'd known her, her reiatsu was fluctuating and spiking a bit higher than usual. _That's different..._

**.:x:.**

"Yay! Lunch break! My favorite part of the day!"

"It's only your favorite part because you like to eat, Orihime," Rukia said with a smile, looking at the excited red-head.

"Yes, but I brought an extra special lunch today!" Orihime said, taking out her lunch bag and laying out its contents. "Peanut butter, salsa and tuna sandwich with chocolate covered hotdogs on a stick for desert!"

"You're so weird Orihime," Ichigo muttered.

They all sat in their usual spot under one of the trees in the quad, its long branches usually shading them during the summer months but with it now being fall, the trees were almost bare, but they all sat on a soft bed of fallen leaves. Toushiro leaned against the large trunk, legs stretched out in front of him and crossed at the ankles and his arms folded over his chest. Talim sat beside him, her legs folded to one side, as she set out her own lunch on a napkin. "Eh, Toushiro," she said, snapping him out of his reverie. Her reiatsu had gone down, ever since they left the classroom and she stayed close alongside him, as if his presence had calmed her. "Did you bring anything for lunch?"

"No," he replied. "I didn't have time to make anything. I returned late and just had enough time to shower and dress once I returned into my gigai."

"Oh, well then," Talim said and as he watched, she cut her sandwich in half and handed him one half. "It's left over turkey from dinner last night. It had been soaked in gravy while it cooked, so it's good. No mayonnaise or nothing."

Toushiro took it with a small smile of thanks, which sadly Rangiku caught and began gushing over it before he threw a nearby rock at her, telling her to shut up. Talim just laughed and moved up so her back was resting against the tree trunk beside Toushiro. The two of them ate their sandwiches and Talim set her bag of chips between them so he could pick at those as well. They even ended up splitting a can of soda. He couldn't help but feel at ease, doing this with Talim, and the others didn't say anything but accepted it, even though it looked like Rangiku was holding herself back from hopping up and down in her spot. The mood around all of them, for what seemed like the first time in a while, was peaceful.

So of course, it had to be shattered.

"Well, well, well, look what we have here," a taunting voice said. "Kaia can you believe it? Talim's replaced us with a bunch of _freaks _and her new _boyfriend_."

Toushiro, who had been taking a drink, began to choke at what Ayumi said. _Boyfriend?!_ He looked up and saw Ayumi and Talim's other friend Kaia standing there with a couple boys behind them. Ayumi had a hand on her hip and was looking at Talim coldly. "Guess we don't really matter anymore, not compared to these freaks."

"What do you want, Ayumi?" Talim asked, glaring up at the other girl.

"I was just wondering why you rather hang out with these people than with your friends?"

"These people are my friends," Talim said, "and they aren't freaks."

"Oh come on!" Ayumi exclaimed, gesturing to the people sitting around Talim. "Two of them are bleached haired, one eats the weirdest food combos, not to mention 'ick', one is a foreigner, one is… well… Uryuu Ishida, one is totally obsessed with bunnies to the point that it's unhealthy…"

"Shut up!" Talim said, jumping to her feet, glaring at Ayumi. "You don't know them, so don't pass judgment!"

"And what about him?" Ayumi barked, gesturing to Toushiro. "He can't be a decent person. He bleaches his hair, and he doesn't look nice at all. I can't believe you dumped your friends for someone…"

"You're not really my friends if you act like this and talk about my other friends that way!" Talim exclaimed. "You don't know any of them…"

"You know what, whatever," Ayumi said, turning her nose up. "Go ahead, hang with these freaks. I guess they suit you after all…"

Toushiro's eyes widened when Talim's reiatsu spiked… _high_. In fact, the force of it caused his chest to hurt, as if there was a huge weight on it. _Impossible! The source of that powerful reiatsu is... no..._ He sprang to his feet as Talim lunged at Ayumi, her fist raised and ready to strike. He wrapped his arms around her waist to hold her back, knowing that if she laid a hit on the other girl she could seriously hurt Ayumi with all the spirit pressure coming from her.

"You bitch!" Talim yelled, struggling against Toushiro. "You don't know _anything_ about me! You aren't a friend, you never were my friend! All you care about it popularity! You…"

"Talim," Toushiro whispered, "please calm down."

"Let… me… _go_… Toushiro!"

"Talim… please…"

Although he spoke softly so only she would hear him, his voice was pleading. It was enough. Talim's reiatsu slowly went down and she ceased her struggling, collapsing back against him. He looked up at Ayumi, who was staring at Talim in horror. "I suggest that you leave," he said, his voice cold once more. Ayumi and her friends nodded and they left, moving quickly. Once they were gone Toushiro released his hold on Talim.

She turned and looked at him, down casting her eyes in slight shame. "I'm sorry…" she said. "I never would usually behave that way...it's just that when she started saying those things about you guys, I just got mad and…" She looked up then and saw all of them staring at her in shock. "W-what? What is it?"

"Talim…" Toushiro said softly. "You… the reiatsu we've been looking for… it's you…"

Talim stared at him, her face going pale. "No…" she whispered softly, shaking her head. "Toushiro… don't say that…"

"I'm sorry, but it is…" he admitted and behind him the others nodded, also in shock.

Talim shook her head again, slowly backing away. "It can't be…" She then looked at Toushiro pleadingly and whispered, "What are you going to do with me?"

Something inside of the white haired Shinigami twisted up painfully. Usually, he would follow orders given and destroy the source of the reiatsu, or take it back to Soul Society so it could be retained in some way. But, this was Talim, and he found himself, for the first time in a long while, being pulled in separate directions; either follow orders or go with his gut, or what some would call heart. "I…" he mumbled. "I… don't know…"

"Captain…" Rangiku said softly. "The Captain-Commander said…"

"I know what he said!" Toushiro snapped, whirling on Rangiku. "I just… I can't…" He spun around to look at Talim, who stared at him, terrified of what he was going to say. "Talim…"

"You're going to follow your orders, aren't you?" she whispered faintly.

"I…"

Talim shook her head again, whispering, "No… this can't be happening…" Before Toushiro could say anything, she turned and ran.

Toushiro started after her, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. He looked up to see Ichigo watching the girl run away. "Let her go," he said softly, looking down at Toushiro. "You need to make a choice, Toushiro. Talk to Yamamoto and think of a way to protect her."

Toushiro looked back to where Talim ran off. "The Captain-Commander will want her dealt with… but…" For the first time, Toushiro didn't know what to do.

"I'll give you a hint of what you _could_ do," Ichigo said. "Who's someone else that you know of that has a high reiatsu?"

Toushiro looked back at Ichigo, his eyes widening when he realized what he was talking about. "It would never work," he said.

Ichigo shrugged and said, "You never know until you try."

**.:x:.**

"You had something to report, Captain Hitsugaya?" Yamamoto asked, looking at Toushiro through the communication screen.

"Yes," Toushiro replied, his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "We've found the source of the strong reiatsu."

"Excellent," Yamamoto said, nodding to Toushiro. "Have you dealt with it, or will you be bringing it back to Soul Society to the 12th Division."

"Neither," Toushiro said. He could see the slight surprise in the Captain-Commander's face. "I… sir, the source is Tailm."

"A human girl?"

"Yes, but she's no normal human girl. She's a priestess."

The Captain-Commander looked at Toushiro for a while before replying. "You are allowing your feelings for this woman to interfere with your orders."

Toushiro looked at the floor as he said, "Yes, but…" he looked back up at Yamamoto. "She can be trained. Allow me to train her. If she learns to control and harness her reiatsu and spirit energy, she may possibly have the strength to become a more powerful Shinigami than Ichigo Kurosaki. I will make sure that she causes no danger to this world or Soul Society. I will take all responsibility if any danger is to occur." He knew that that was a big thing to take, but he will do anything to make sure Talim wasn't killed or placed into Mayuri Kurotshuchi's clutches. If anything were to go wrong, he was risking losing his rank and becoming exiled, if not executed.

The Captain-Commander was silent for a few minutes and for a moment, Toushiro was afraid that he was going to deny his request. Finally the old Shinigami gave a nod. "Alright," he said. "Your request is accepted. But, you are fully responsible for anything that may happen, Captain Hitsugaya. If she turns out to be too much of a danger, to Soul Society or the real world, she will be destroyed and you will suffer the punishment. Is that understood?"

"Yes," Toushiro said, nodding, relief filling him although he didn't allow it to show on his face, "quite clearly."

"You will give a report every week on her progress. That is all." Then Yamamoto signed off.

Toushiro released a heaving sigh of relief. A knock sounded behind him and he looked around to see Rangiku poke her head in. "Well?" his lieutenant asked, worry etched on her face.

Toushiro nodded and said, "He agreed." He wasn't about to tell the arrangement of the agreement, only that Talim was going to be trained to control and harness her reiatsu and spirit energy.

"Yay!" Rangiku exclaimed and then looked behind her where he was sure the others were standing. "Captain-Commander agreed!"

Toushiro couldn't help but smile slightly with relief. For now, Talim would be alright. Now it was the matter of finding her.

**.:x:.**

Toushiro sat on the rooftop of the Kurosaki home. Downstairs, he could hear Ichigo yelling at his father and the crashing sound of the older Kurosaki man being thrown halfway across a room, or down the stairs, either one. He sat with his knees drawn up, elbow propped on one knee with his hand under his chin. He stared out over Karakura Town, waiting… hoping that Talim's reiatsu would flare, if just for a moment, so he could have _some_ idea where she was.

He thought that she would come back to them after she'd calm down, but at the same time a part of him said that she wouldn't, because of her fear of what they may do to her. _She's scared, so she's hiding._ He'd called the shop, but Urahara had picked up and said that she hadn't returned home yet. He couldn't help but feel worry creeping up, taking over the relief that he'd been feeling ever since Yamamoto accepted his request.

"Toushiro?"

He looked around, surprised to see Karin walking towards him. She sat down next to him and gave him a small smirk. "I couldn't stand being down there for one more minute," she told him.

"Ah," he said, with a nod, before turning his focus back to the town.

"You're worried about her, aren't you?" Karin asked.

"Yeah…" he replied.

"Rangiku told me what's going on, if you're wondering…"

"I kind of figured…"

Karin was silent for a moment and then she sighed. "You like her… like, you _like_ her…"

Toushiro whipped his head around and stared at Karin. "What…?"

"You're in love with Talim," Karin said, shrugging. "I guess that's the only way you can put it. When you look at her, or hear her voice, you feel like something is tingling inside of you, or pulling at you, right?"

"Y-yeah..."

"You love her," she said, looking at him with a smile. "Nothing to be ashamed about, Toushiro. You care about her, enough to risk everything just so she wouldn't be killed because of what she is."

"How… do you know that?" he said in surprise.

Karin laughed and said, "You forget I'm your friend, Toushiro! I know you more than you think I do. But seriously… don't be afraid. Go for it, if you really want to."

Toushiro looked back towards the town, deep in thought. He remembered the comfort he'd felt when she held him as he wept for Hinamori, how she always seemed to lighten his mood, no matter how moody he was, how he felt that very day when she sat beside him, how he felt at peace. He actually enjoyed that, and wanted that, even though the serious, stoic part of his mind said that as a Shinigami Captain of the Gotei 13, he didn't have time for these feelings, for a relationship or devotion like that. _Screw it, _he thought. _She's pulling at my soul, for Kami's sake! I think I need her, more than want her, with me._

_Before my heart becomes ice completely._

He looked over at Karin and smiled. "I think…" Suddenly, Talim's reiatsu flared. Both his and Karin's heads whipped in the direction it was coming from. He could feel her terror, pain… slight anger. He jumped to his feet just as his phone began to beep, signaling a Hollow. He flipped it open and saw that the Hollow was in the same area that Talim's reiatsu was coming from. Snapping his phone shut and pulling out the Soul Candy, he looked at Karin, who gave him a nod.

"Go after her," she said softly.

Toushiro nodded and he swallowed one of the small green pills. He burst out of his gigai with enough force to knock it back onto its rear. "Stay here," he ordered it and the soul inside it, before turning and shunpoing in the direction Talim's reiatsu was now fluctuating.


	8. Chapter 8

Talim didn't arrive to school again the next day and Toushiro had a feeling that it was because of the boy with cancer, Zack. He wanted to go see her after school, but he had patrol until sundown. So it wasn't until well past sunset that he arrived at Talim's house in his gigai.

He was immediately attacked by kids, who'd sensed his reiatsu arriving apparently, and the kids dragged him into the living room where Talim was with Zack. "Talim! Talim! Look who's here!" Tina cried, jumping up and down while still grasping Toushiro's hand tightly.

Talim looked at Toushiro and smiled. "You didn't have to come over," she said.

"I know," was all he said as he walked over and crouched in front of Zack who sat on the couch next to Talim, wrapped in blankets. "Here," he said, reaching into his jacket pocket and taking out an orange. He handed it to Zack and said, "It'll make you feel better."

The young boy smiled shyly and accepted the orange. "Thank you," he said softly.

Toushiro smiled and then looked up at Talim. "I was wondering," he said, "if you wanted to go to that festival they're having down at the park. The others are going and I think Matsumoto will have a hernia if I showed up without you."

Talim laughed and then smiled sadly, "I would, but…" She looked at Zack, who was being helped by Tina peeling his orange.

"Well…" Toushiro thought, looking at the boy. He couldn't help but feel a bit of sadness for him. He knew that the boy's life was coming to a close. "It's fairly warm out tonight, despite the time of the year… he can come with us, if we bundle him up real well. What do you say, Zack? Would you like to go?"

Zack looked up at Toushiro, his eyes brighter than the Shinigami captain had ever seen them. He nodded eagerly and said, "Yeah, I would."

Toushiro nodded and stood up. "Alright then," he said and then looked at Tina. "Tina, I trust you to make sure he's good and bundled up to head outside for a couple hours."

Tina nodded and she gently took Zack's hand the two of them began to make their way up the stairs, a new energy in the sick boy. Talim slowly stood and as Toushiro looked back at her, he saw something in her brown eyes he'd never seen: sadness and absolute gratitude. "Toushiro…" she whispered softly.

"I want him to have at least one happy memory of his life here before he goes to Soul Society," Toushiro said softly. "Something he won't forget…"

Talim just nodded and she wrapped her arms tightly around him. "I love you…" she said faintly.

Those three words again: words that Toushiro wouldn't want to hear from anyone else, and yet, he still couldn't bring himself to return them, not yet at least, although he truly did. So he said the next best thing. "Me too, Talim…"

**.:x:.**

Zack was ready within twenty minutes, bundled up in sweaters, a thick coat, scarves, mittens, a hat and thickly lined boots, sitting in his wheelchair. All the children came down to see him off and Kaede gave Toushiro a nod, her eyes rimmed with tears. Talim wore a cheongsam with floral pattern and a low-cut back offers necessary cover, splitting into three petals at the waist. Over it she wears a white shoulder jacket with pink trim,looking not entirely unlike body armor. Except for the large flower on the left breast and the butterfly wing design on the shoulder blades, that is. Deep crimson bands with gold trim encircle her upper arms, and she wears long brown and pink fingerless gloves with unusual curvy patterns. Her shorts are very short and very red, and have a gold trim and pattern on the side which matches the design on her gloves. Unusually, the split up either side. Her boots are short and pink with purple and white straps near the toes and incredibly thick tops. Long brown socks poke out of the top. She has a red choker supporting a large red medallion. She wears an unusual red skullcap with white "horns," from which hang two pink ribbon. Underneath, her hair is now modern and trimmed to shoulder length. The bangs remain. Once everyone said their good-byes and wished Zack to have fun, Talim began to steer the small wheelchair out of the house and down the driveway.

They made it to the park within twenty minutes and Rangiku immediately pounced on them, squealing happily until Renji pulled her back before Toushiro could smack her. Rukia and Orihime immediately bonded with Zack after introductions were made and soon the three girls traveled ahead with the sick boy, chatting excitedly on what they should do and asking Zack what he wanted to do first.

At one point, Ichigo looked at Toushiro and asked, "Why did you bring the kid? He looks a little sick to me."

"He has cancer," Toushiro said simply, not letting any of his emotions out through his demeanor. "This may be his last chance of enjoying his life."

None of the others said anything to that, except Ishida just nodded, Chad grunted and Rangiku looked at Toushiro with soft eyes, but didn't say anything.

Throughout the evening, Toushiro could see how excited Zack was and how much fun he was happy. He'd never seen the boy laugh or smile as much as he did that evening in the entire time he had known him. And every time Talim looked at Toushiro, the look she gave him and the emotions in her eyes created a warm fluttering in his soul. When it came time for them to head back, Toushiro could see the pure happiness in the boy's eyes and the way he chatted away about his night as they began to head back to the orphanage let Toushiro know that it had been a great idea to let the boy come with them.

Zack was tired by the time the two of them started up the driveway and he became silent. They continued forward in silence, Talim pushing Zack's wheelchair and Toushiro walked alongside her, hands in the pockets of his jacket. After a while, Zack asked in a soft voice, "Where will I go when I die?"

Toushiro looked over at Talim, who seemed lost for words. So he answered the boy's question, truthfully. "It's a place called Soul Society, and it's a good place, protected by the Shinigami who live in _Seireitei_. There's no pain, or sickness and there will be people there who will take care of you, no matter who you are."

"Hmm… sounds nice…" Zack said quietly and the boy fell silent once more. They arrived at the house and Toushiro gathered the boy into his arms and carried him into the house and up to his room. He got Zack ready for bed and tucked him under his thick blankets.

As Zack closed his eyes, he whispered, "Tell me more about Soul Society, Shirou."

Toushiro was slightly surprised in the boy's sudden interest in the afterlife, but he proceeded to tell Zack more about Soul Society. Once he finished, Zack asked one more thing before he fell asleep. "Will I see my parents there?"

Toushiro frowned slightly. It was quite rare for family members to find each other in Soul Society if their deaths were separated by years. Most of the time, souls were adopted into small families that had formed over time, like him and Hinamori. But instead of telling the boy that, he said, "Yeah, you will."

Zack smiled slightly as he drifted off to sleep and Toushiro slowly stood and left the room where all the other boys slept peacefully. He returned downstairs where Talim was waiting for him in the living room.

He smiled at the sight of the young woman lying on the couch that was set up a few yards away from the fireplace, her eyes closed, a few strands of her dark hair hanging over her face and glinting in the light of the fire. He walked over and sat on the edge of the couch next to her and pushed her hair away from her face. She opened her eyes slowly and looked up at him. "We gonna head out?" she asked quietly.

"In a little bit, yeah," he replied. He then moved himself so he was laying behind Talim, wrapping his arms around her waist, their legs intertwining with one another's. He pressed his lips lightly against the back of her head and stared at the crackling flames of the fire.

"That was a good thing you did today, Toushiro," Talim said softly.

"I wanted to give him at least one happy memory," he told her, "one that he wouldn't forget, no matter how long he's been in Soul Society. Something I wish I had…"

"You don't remember anything from when you were alive?"

"Only that I died young, probably around the same age as Tina, and that I was really cold… Other than that, I don't remember anything, not even who my parents looked like."

"It must be horrible…"

"No, not really… I've become use to it… it's an old life, something of the past. I like where I am now, this life that I'm living…"

"Even though you're short for you're age?"

"Shut up…"

Talim laughed quietly and she slowly turned around to face Toushiro. "This life that you like now… I'm a part of it, right?"

Toushiro smiled and nodded. "Yeah," he said. He then smirked and said, "For now, anyway, until I'm tired of you."

Talim punched him in the chest playfully and he chuckled slightly, kissing her lightly. Talim sighed and pressed herself closer to him. "I'm glad…" she said softly.

"For what?"

"That you are a part of my life… now…" With that, Talim drifted to sleep, her breathing becoming even although her reiatsu still pulsed from happiness.

Toushiro slowly sat up and he lifted up Talim gently, holding her close to him in his arms. He carried her all the way to Urahara's to her room and laid her into bed. After covering her up with her blankets, he placed one last kiss on her forehead and looked down at her sleeping face. "I'm glad too…" he said softly, "that you're a part of my life now as well."

**.:x:.**

The first thing Toushiro felt the next morning when he woke up was sudden dread in the pit of his stomach, and it wasn't from Isshin coming crashing into Ichigo's room where he and Renji also slept, announcing the start of a new day. This ended by both Ichigo and Renji sending the ex-Shinigami captain somersaulting down the stairs with two black eyes. It didn't let up as they headed to school and it grew worse when Talim didn't meet them at the intersection near the bakery like she did every morning. When he saw that she wasn't at the school, he knew something bad had happened.

"I have to go to see Talim," he told the others, not letting any of his emotions through his usual demeanor although his stomach was twisting with fear, dread and worry.

"What's wrong, Captain?" Rangiku asked, looking worried.

"Just a feeling I have… and I'm not liking it… cover for me, alright Matsumoto?"

"Right," his vice-captain said.

Toushiro left the school and as soon as he was out of sight, he began to run, weaving through the crowds that began to form on the sidewalks. He went as fast as his gigai would allow and also without attracting too much attention to himself. He got to the orphanage's driveway and ran as fast as he could up it. When he came up to her house, he saw a vehicle parked outside the house, an ambulance, and he knew. "Oh no…" he whispered. As he came nearer, he saw two men walk out, carrying a stretcher with a small black body bag strapped to it. He slowed to a stop and watched as the men carried the stretcher into the ambulance and closed the doors.

Toushiro ran into the house and was met by a lot of crying children and a weeping Kaede sighing death papers with a shaky hand. The old woman looked up, her eyes locking onto Toushiro's and he knew that it was true. "He's gone…" he whispered softly.

"Shirou!" Tina cried when she noticed him and Toushiro knelt down as the girl ran to him, and pulled her into his embrace. "S-Shirou, Zack… he's… he's…"

"I know… Tina, I know," Toushiro said softly. He then looked up at Kaede and asked, "When…?"

"They think some time last night," Kaede said softly. "He passed in his sleep. The boys tried to wake him and when they couldn't, they called for Talim. When she came and went in and saw him… she knew… oh, Toushiro, she's gone off somewhere! When they zipped his body up into that bag, she just took off, she couldn't handle it!"

Toushiro slowly stood, lifting up a sobbing Tina as he did. He searched for Talim's reiatsu, but couldn't find it. "I can't sense her…" he said softly.

Kaede reached for Tina and took the girl from his arms. "Find her, Toushiro," the old woman pleaded, "before something else does." Toushiro knew what Kaede meant. If a Hollow attacked Talim now, it could easily take her out in the state she was in.

Toushiro nodded and he left the house. He ran to Urahara's and found the shop owner in the back. "Has Talim come here?" he asked, glaring at the man to let him know that he wasn't in the mood for games.

Urahara shook his head, his face becoming serious. "No, she hasn't come back… what has happened?"

"Someone in the orphanage just died, and she's taken off… I'll explain later…" Toushiro reached into his pocket and took out his soul candy and swallowed the green pill, forcing his soul from his gigai. He faced Urahara and said, "Let the others know that I'm looking for Talim… and that I'm doing it alone." He then shunpoed off, beginning his search, and praying that Talim would be okay.

**.:x:.**

Night fell and Toushiro still was unable to locate Talim. He stood on top of a telephone pole, looking over the town, willing for Talim's reiatsu to flare, for _any _sign to lead him to her. His face was etched with worry and his eyes darted around, searching. "Where are you, Talim?" he whispered softly. Then suddenly, it hit him and he palm faced himself. "I'm an idiot…" he murmured. He remembered the place Talim took him to a while back: the small clearing with the pool… the place Talim called her sanctuary. "Why didn't I think of that in the first place…"

Toushiro began to shunpo in the direction of the clearing. As he did, the air seemed to suddenly become cooler and he knew that it wasn't he that was doing it. He moved through the woods and finally came into the clearing. He slowed to a stop when he saw Talim and let out a sigh of relief. She stood near the pool which had a thin layer of ice over the surface, her dark hair falling down her back. He walked over to her and reached for her. "Talim…" he said softly.

Talim turned to face him at his touch and looked up at him with tear washed eyes. "He's gone, Toushiro…" she whispered.

He nodded and Talim let out a sob, throwing herself into his arms. Toushiro held her close as she cried, running a hand through her hair. As he comforted her, he saw a few snowflakes drift slowly down from the sky.

He held Talim like she held him when he first cried for Hinamori. After a while, Talim's sobbing subsided and she calmed down. She remained in his arms for a while longer before pulling away slightly to look up at him. "Thank you, Toushiro," she said softly. "Because of you, at least he died happy. He was happy when he fell asleep and he was happy when he finally left. He immediately went to Soul Society, didn't he?"

"Yeah, I think he did," Toushiro said, nodding. "I don't sense him anywhere."

Talim nodded and said, "Good, I'm glad." She then looked up and smiled slightly. "It's snowing…"

"Yeah…"

"At least… at least Zack isn't suffering anymore… for that, I'm glad he finally passed on."

"Yes," Toushiro said, "he's at peace now. He'll never have to feel that pain ever again."

Talim smiled and closed her eyes, lifting her face to the sky. "Take care Zack…" she whispered softly.


	9. Chapter 9

Thunder rumbled in the sky as Toushiro ran across the rooftops, heading in the direction the Hollow and Talim were at. The first few drops of rain fell on his face as he heard the roaring of the Hollow. He found them at the riverside, Talim fighting against the Hollow with everything she had. By the time Toushiro's feet touched the ground, the rain was falling heavily from the sky and thunder cracked and boomed within the dark clouds, summoned by forks of lightening. The wind picked up, whipping the hem of his white captain's haori around. He ran at the Hollow, reaching over his shoulder for the hilt of Hyourinmaru.

Talim's reiatsu was flaring, as was her spirit energy. Now that her reiatsu was released from whatever block or shield that had hidden it, her spirit energy was much higher than before, giving her more power. As he approached, Talim jumped at the Hollow, bringing her fist down with a loud crack, causing the Hollow to scream and swipe at her as she flipped away. She landed lightly on her feet before going into a crouch to launch herself at the monster again for another attack.

Toushiro unsheathed Hyourinmaru and swung it down, slicing the Hollow's thick arm. This Hollow reminded him of a gorilla, except with a long tail and boar-like hind legs. Ice formed around the wound and slowly spread up the Hollow's arm. As Toushiro released his reiatsu, the temperature became colder and the rain slowly became snow. The Hollow roared again when his arm fell off which was now completely ice. He released the chain with the crescent-moon blade at the end from his hilt and threw it at the other arm. The chain wrapped around the arm and began to turn that into ice as well. He pulled at the chain, breaking off the Hollow's arm. "Talim, finish it off now!" he called, looking over at Talim.

Talim ran at the Hollow and using spirit energy, she jumped high. Bringing her fist back, she sliced it through the white skull mask with her elbow blades and into its head with a large burst of light the color of fire. The Hollow let out one last roar before it dissolved away into nothing. Toushiro let out a sigh as he sheathed Hyourinmaru. "Well," he said, "at least we know for sure your attacks are purifying, like a Zanpakutoh, so maybe you can…" He had to duck as Talim slung an attack on him.

"What are you doing here?!" Talim cried, glaring at him. "There's a reason why I didn't go back!"

"Talim… please wait a minute…"

"No! I won't let you kill me for something I didn't do!" Talim lunged at him again, but this time he was prepared for her. He grabbed her and pulled her close to him, holding her to his chest. She struggled against him, screaming at him before finally giving up and sagged against him, sobbing into his chest. Toushiro sighed softly as he ran his fingers though her hair, both of their reiatsus going down, and the snow returned to rain. He stood there, holding her to him as she cried.

"Come on," Toushiro said softly after a while, gathering her into his arms, holding her bridal style close to him. "I'll take you to Urahara's."

Talim didn't say anything, but pressed her face into his chest. Toushiro used Shunpo to get to Urahara's Shop, the rain stinging his exposed skin. He reached the shop in less than ten minutes and instead of going through the front, he went to Talim's window and, after opening it, went through. His feet touched the wooden floor silently in the dark room. He let Talim down onto the bed before turning to head back out the window. _She doesn't want me around... not now..._ He stepped up onto the window sill and was about to leave when Talim's voice spoke softly behind him.

"You're just gonna leave…?"

Toushiro looked around at her. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking at him with tear-washed eyes. "Yeah…" he said. "I said I would take you home and I figure you don't want me around…"

"You're not going to kill me…?" Talim asked, her voice so small that it twisted Toushiro's heart.

"No…"

"What?"

Toushiro sighed and stepped off the sill, walking over to her. "I'm not… following my orders. I'm not going to kill you, or take you to Soul Society like I intended to… before I knew that it was you."

"But you're a Captain," Talim said, jumping to her feet and looking at him. "You told me that you see to follow out your duties as a Captain…"

"I talked with the Captain-Commander," he said, cutting her off. "I told him that it was you… and that I wasn't going to destroy you, or take you to Soul Society to become an experiment. I managed to convince him that you can be trained to become a Shinigami, to learn to control your reiatsu and spirit energy. I said that I would take you into my responsibility, and suffer the consequences if anything that you do threatens the real world or Soul Society. I'm risking a great deal so you won't be killed…" He ducked again as Talim threw another punch at him, anger glinting in her eyes.

"Idiot!" she exclaimed, glaring at him. "Why would you do that?! You're risking everything to protect _me_?! I can't be worth risking your life for…"

Toushiro grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her angrily. "You're the idiot!" he yelled at her, before remembering that there were people sleeping in the house. He lowered his voice to a hiss as he said, "You are worth the risk. I'm not going to let anything happen to you. I'll protect you…" He blinked, surprised at the words that came out of his mouth. Talim seemed to as well because her eyes widened slightly.

"Did you just say that you'll protect me?" she asked softly.

"Y-yeah…"

"Did you mean it? Really?"

He looked at Talim, trying to organize his thoughts and feelings that were jumbled up inside of him. Did he really mean it, truthfully? And were his feelings for her real and not just illusions summoned up by Hinamori's death? The voices of Yamamoto and Karin from earlier that day sounded in his head again:

"_You are allowing your feelings for this woman to interfere with your orders."_

"_You care about her, enough to risk everything just so she wouldn't be killed because of what she is."_

Toushiro realized that he'd already made a decision, the moment he went after her from the Kurosaki rooftop that night. He gave her a small smile and nodded. "Yeah," he said, "I mean it."

Tears slid from Talim's eyes and she threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly. "I'm glad," she said softly. "I'm glad knowing that you are looking out for me."

Toushiro wrapped his arms around Talim, holding her close to him. Both were still dripping wet from the rain, but neither seemed to care. After a while, they slowly began to pull away until their faces were inches from each other. He found himself slowly inching his face closer to hers, staring into herbrow, almost colored eyes before he slowly closed his own and he brushed his lips against hers. For the second time in his life, at least it felt like it was his first, he was hesitant, nervous on how Talim was going to react. He didn't pull away, but he didn't press onward, leaving an opening for her to decide what to do next, to give her a chance to pull away if she wanted, although he willed that she didn't.

His wish was granted when she pressed her lips back onto his. Their lips moved slowly and lightly against one another and Toushiro couldn't help but feel a warmth, a blissful security, wrap around his ice-shrouded heart. His skin felt extremely hot and icy cold at the same time and his lips tingled as they moved against Talim's. His reiatsu peaked as indescribable and unfamiliar feelings and emotions raced through him. He could sense that Talim was having similar feelings and emotions just by the way her reiatsu seemed to pulse, getting higher and higher with each pulse. Just when he thought he was going to burst, did they finally pull away from lack of air.

He opened his eyes and watched as Talim slowly opened her own. They were brighter than he'd ever seen them and seemed to glow when she gave him a small smile. He returned her smile with one of his own which then shifted into a frown when she began to shiver slightly. He rubbed her arms and felt the goosebumps that covered her skin and then realized that with his raised reiatsu, he caused the temperature in the room to drop slightly. _Damn..._ "You're freezing…" he muttered softly. "You should get changed into something warm."

"Y-yeah…" Talim said, nodding, before she pulled away from his embrace and went over to her dresser, pulling out a flannel pajama set. She looked back over to him and asked, "Will you still be here?"A thought crept into her mind: _That was my first kiss..._ She now couldn't help but wonder if it had been Toushiro's as well.

Toushiro nodded and watched as she walked out, opening and closing the door silently so not to wake anyone in the sleeping house. Using a bit of kidou, he dried himself off and shrugged off his white captain's haori, draping it onto a chair, before sitting on the edge of the bed. He subconsciously brushed his lips with his fingers, still able to feel her lips on his. It had felt incredible! All these emotions and feelings, they were still so new to him, so foreign, that he just couldn't describe them whatsoever.

He looked up when Talim returned, dressed in a pair of blue and white flannel pajamas. She closed the door silently behind her before moving over to the bed. Toushiro stood and pulled the blankets back so she could crawl into bed. He pulled them back over her, tucking her in as he eased himself back down onto the edge of the bed. Talim yawned and he smiled as her eyes began to droop slightly. "Toushiro…" she said softly.

"Yeah?"

"Will you stay tonight?" she asked him, her eyes locking with his own.

He nodded and said, "Sure, if you want me to."

Talim nodded and closed her eyes with a content sigh. Toushiro leaned down and placed a light kiss onto her forehead. He brushed a few strands of hair from her face as he felt her reiatsu sink low and steady, indicating that she was slipping off into sleep.

"Good-night, Talim," he whispered softly.

**.:x:.**

Talim woke up to sunlight streaming in through her window. She blinked a few times, gaining back her sight as sleep left her eyes. She then realized that she wasn't alone in her bed, like she was use to. She could feel the warmth of another person pressed against her back, with two strong arms holding her close. She could hear and feel the steady breathing behind her, indicating that the person still slept. She knew who it was before she slowly began to turn, so not to disturb the sleeping person, to look at their face.

She couldn't help but smile at the sight of Toushiro sleeping beside her, his arms around her waist. Without the usual scowl that marred his features, he looked so peaceful in his sleep, so content. His face was smooth and calm, and so breath-takingly gorgeous that it caused something in Talim's mid-section to flutter. She gently stroked the side of his face with her fingers, running them up through his soft white hair. It was then she realized that he was in his gigai, meaning that he'd left sometime during the night while she slept. Shaking away the feeling from the thought of him leaving her when he said that he would stay, she continued to gently stroke his hair until he let out a soft grunt, followed by a moan, before he opened his eyes, which were slightly glazed from sleep.

"Good morning," she said softly, bringing her hand down to rest on the bed between them.

"Morning…" he muttered, stifling a yawn. He brought up a hand to run his fingers through his already disheveled hair. "What time is it?"

"Not sure," Talim said, shrugging. "Maybe eight, what I'm guessing." She then gave him an accusing look and said, "You left last night, after you said you wouldn't."

"I know, sorry," he replied, giving her a small smile. Talim couldn't help but feel a slight thrill that his face still held almost all of the same peacefulness he had had while sleeping. "I left so I could return to my gigai, but I came immediately back here. I wasn't gone for more than fifteen minutes. I just figured it would be more convenient if I returned to it last night than sometime today, seeing as I'm probably going to spend the day with you."

"It's alright," Talim said with a smile. "And really, you're going to spend the day with me?"

"I'm not the leave-in-the-next-morning type of guy," Toushiro said. "Besides, unless something big comes up, I thought we could start your training a little bit today."

"Oh yeah," Talim said, rolling her eyes. "Fun…"

Toushiro laughed slightly and pulled her closer to him. "Or you can just relax for today, seeing as all of this was dropped on you so suddenly, and we can start training tomorrow."

"I like that plan better, although it's so unlike you."

"What can I say; you make me do things that are so unlike me."

"Guess I have some sort of spell over you or something."

"Or something… I don't think you're powerful enough to control me."

"Hey, I could whoop you any day."

"I'm not saying you can't, because I know you probably could… only because I'll be going easy on you because you're a girl."

"Excuses…Excuses..."

Toushiro laughed again and Talim couldn't help but smile at their playful bickering. She knew that no way in hell would Toushiro act this way in front of the others, but when it was just the two of them, he allowed his icy demeanor to drop and she liked that.

He brushed a strand of her hair away from her face before pressing his lips against hers. Talim couldn't help but let out a soft moan, which caused him to shift position so he was on top of her, propping himself up with his elbows on either side of her. Their kiss turned deep and passionate when he flicked his tongue at her lips which she parted so he could enter. She slid her hands up under the white tank top he wore, running them over the smooth muscled planes of his back. Despite having such a cold reiatsu and Zanpakutoh, he was surprisingly warm.

Toushiro moved his kisses down to her neck and Talim started to giggle softly. "We're gonna have to stop this before it gets too out of control," she told him, although her voice was breathless.

She heard him moan softly before he asked, "Why?"

"Because we are in Urahara's shop and there is no telling who will barge in here."

Toushiro grunted and after planting a final kiss on her collarbone and then her lips, he moved himself off of her and out of bed in one fluid movement. She sat up to the edge of the bed as he stretched his arms over his head. Along with the tank top he wore blue sweat pants that hung low on his hips. Talim stood up and walked to her closet, picking out her clothing for the day. When she turned back to face Toushiro, she saw that he already was taking out clothing from a bag he'd brought after retrieving his gigai. "I'm going to the bathroom to get dressed and all."

He nodded and Talim walked out of her room. She could hear Urahara tending to costumers as she made her way to the bathroom. After locking the door behind her so she wouldn't be disturbed, she quickly undressed and jumped into the shower. As the warm water ran over her, soaking her hair, making it darken and cling to her back and shoulders, she thought of the night before.

There had been so much sincerity in Toushiro's eyes when he told her that he would do anything for her, just so she would stay safe. The feelings she sensed from him when they shared their first kiss had all been real. Talim had always been a bit empathic, being able to sense someone's feelings and all; she just never thought that it linked to one's reiatsu. She'd been able to sense Toushiro's feelings quite more clearly than the others, even Ichigo's, who definitely had a much higher reiatsu than Toushiro did. Why though? Could it possibly be the connection they somehow shared, or what she believed was a connection? Talim sighed as she finished washing. She was going to have to talk to Urahara on this one, privately.

She got out of the shower, dried off and dressed. While standing in front of the mirror, she pulled her hair up into breaded pig tails. Her long bangs were separated at the center and hung on either side of her face. She wore a simple pale yellow baby tee with a white long sleeved shirt underneath and dark jeans. _Wonder what Toushiro is planning to do today?_ Talim thought to herself.

Sighing she grabbed her pajamas and left the bathroom, returning to her bedroom. She found Toushiro dressed, sitting on her made bed and with his Shinigami Cellular Phone out. She folded her pajamas and placed them on the end of her bed to use again before sitting down next to Toushiro. "What's going on?" she asked.

Toushiro sighed and closed the phone with a usual snap. The usual icy demeanor and scowl was back on his face but when he turned to look at her, there was warmth in his eyes. "There's been a report on Arrancar in the area, so we all have to check it out."

"All as in… me too?"

"No," he said firmly. "You may be able to take out Hollows easily, but you aren't ready for an Arrancar."

Talim gave Toushiro a look and she couldn't stop her stubborn streak from coming out. "I'm a lot stronger than you think, Toushiro," she argued. "I think I could handle…"

"Talim," Toushiro said softly, stopping her in mid-sentence. He turned his body to face her and held her gently by the shoulders. "Please, just trust me. You aren't ready yet. I don't want anything to happen to you. As of right now, this is something for the Shinigami to handle. Please Talim…"

Looking into his eyes, Talim saw the pleading there, something she never saw in his eyes. She felt herself give in and she nodded. "Alright," she said, "as long as you promise that nothing will happen to you."

Toushiro looked away, his eyes darkening slightly. "I can't promise…"

"Toushiro…"

"Alright, I promise that I'll be careful. Is that enough?"

Talim nodded and said, "Yeah, it is." She then pulled him into an embrace, resting her head on his shoulder. "As long as you're careful."

After a while, the two pulled apart and he placed a quick kiss on her lips before taking her hand. "Come on," he said softly. "We should get going."


	10. Chapter 10

As soon as Toushiro left Talim and his gigai at Urahara's, he began to set off in the direction the Arrancar were said to have been spotted. He was soon joined by Mastumoto and the two of them shunpoed over the rooftops. The tenth division captain could sense the reiatsu of the other Shinigami heading in the same direction, coming from different parts of the town. They all arrived at a clearing in the middle of the woods that surrounded the park. Toushiro looked at the others and asked, "Can you sense anything?"

"Nothing…" Ichigo growled, a hand wrapped around the hilt of his Zanpakutoh, Zangetsu. "I felt them for a while when coming this way, but now, it's like they vanished."

Toushiro frowned and reached over his own shoulder for Hyourinmaru. Suddenly, he felt a flare of reiatsu and had enough time to yell, "Look out!" and jumping away before a large explosion struck where the small group had been standing. Cursing, he looked up to see three Arrancar standing in the air, using the spirit particles that flowed in the air to hold them there. All three had black hair and, something that none of them had seen before, the gold and black eyes of Hollows. They all had on the usual white kimono, tied with a black obi, and trimmed with black and long white coat that all the Arrancar Toushiro had seen wore.

The one who attacked had his hair cut short and was stocky built with broad shoulders, although he was tall. His Hollow mask obscured his forehead and left eye. "Tck, I missed," he said, with a smirk.

"We were told not to kill them, brother," the tallest of the three said. This one had long hair that was partly covered by his Hollow mask that covered the top of his head and trailed down into spikes as it went down his hair. He was slim and lanky, his hand on the Zanpakutoh at his side.

"Let him have his fun," the last of the Arrancar said. This one seemed to be the leader of the trio, his hair cut to shoulder length and streaked with blue and red. He pushed up his Hollow mask as he spoke, which covered the top part of his face and had blue and red stripes on it to match his hair, so it rested above his forehead. "Besides, they weren't paying any attention."

"Who are you?" Ichigo demanded, taking a fighting stance.

"We're looking for the one with that strong reiatsu," the leader said with a smirk. "Aizen is most interested in her."

"Aizen?!" Toushiro exclaimed, staring up at the Arrancar. "He's dead! I killed him myself!"

The taller one tilted his head and said, "So you are Hitsugaya Toushiro… Aizen said that you are an interesting one as well, didn't he Zen?"

"Yeah, I remember," the big one said with a grin. "Said he wanted him as well and that he could lead us to her."

"So where is she?" the leader asked again.

"I'm not telling you," Toushiro hissed, unsheathing Hyourinmaru.

"We figured as much," the leader said, shrugging, "as did Aizen. Guess we'll have to do it the hard way." He began to unsheathe his Zanpakutoh but the taller one stopped him.

"You remember what Aizen said, right Kaze?" he asked.

Kaze growled, but he re-sheathed his sword before looking down at the Shinigami. "Hate to chat and run, because I would really love to kill you right now, but it's not the time, sadly. Just try to remember us, for future reference: we're the Asaki brothers: Kaze, Sazuki and Zen." Then the sky ripped open and swallowed the three Arrancar.

"Damn…" Toushiro whispered.

"Captain…?"

"Aizen… he's alive… how…?"

"I don't know," Ichigo said, running a hand through his hair, "and I don't like the situation anymore than the rest of us. Aizen being alive changes everything…"

"And he's after Talim," Renji said, "meaning he knows how powerful she can be, and already is."

"He won't get her," Toushiro vowed softly. "I won't let him."

Silence fell over them, which was soon broken by the sounds of Hollows roaring in the distance. Sighing, Toushiro looked up and said, "Let's go. Once we take care of the Hollows, we need to report to the Captain-Commander."

"Right," Ichigo, Rukia, Renji and Rangiku chorused before they all headed in the direction of the Hollows.

**.:x:.**

"Is something bothering you, Talim?" Urahara asked her.

Talim looked down at her tea cup, staring at the tiny reflection of herself in the dark liquid. Sighing, she set the cup down on the table in front of her and looked up at Urahara. "Yeah, there has been something, or things, that have been bothering me, and I wanted to talk to you about."

Urahara nodded and made a gesture with his hand, indicating for her to go ahead.

Talim sighed and began to fiddle with the cup, turning it slowly in place. "I've been able to know how someone is feeling for a while, and I always figured that it's because I'm sensitive and caring if you will. But, ever since I have been with Tou- I mean, Captain Hitsugaya and the others, not only have I been able to sense their feelings, but feel them as well. It's not really bad, more like a quick wave, just enough so I know what it is, but still… What could it be?"

Urahara frowned at her and said, "I believe that you could possibly have empathy, the experiencing as one's own of the feelings of another. It's quite rare for both souls and humans. Perhaps with your powerful reiatsu, it stemmed up from your ability to know how someone is feeling, and you can only feel another's feelings if they have a strong reiatsu like a Shinigami. Probably the higher the reiatsu, the more strongly the feelings come to you…"

"But that's another thing…" Talim said softly, looking up at Urahara, knowing that the man won't judge. "I feel everyone else's feelings at the same amount, despite their level of reiatsu, but… but…"

"What is it, Talim?"

"Captain Hitsugaya… his feelings come to me so strong that it's almost like they are my own."

"Ah," Urahara said, nodding. "Perhaps that stems from the relationship you have formed with our young captain."

Talim blinked and stared at him. "How did you…?"

"My dear, I may act daft sometimes, but it doesn't mean that I don't notice things as simple, and yet complex, as that."

Talim smiled slightly, which slowly returned to a frown. "I think it may be more than our relationship…"

"What do you mean?"

"Ever since he rescued me in the forest, the first time we met, I've always felt some sort of _connection_ to him. When I look at him, I feel something tugging at me, at my soul. I never experienced anything like it before. It's like… we're linked or something… I don't know…"

Urahara frowned and said, "This is something I've never heard of. I have heard of soul mates, but I think this may go deeper than that. I will have to look into it. Don't mind me if you notice me study the two of you next time I see you together."

Talim laughed and said, "Alright, and I'll make sure Toushiro doesn't try to pound you into the ground for staring."

"Yes, that would be nice, thank you."

**.:x:.**

Toushiro walked towards Urahara's shop, lost in thought. His hands were shoved deep into the pockets of his blue jacket, which was only half way zipped up, showing the orange and white high necked zip-up sweater he wore underneath. The sweater was un-zipped to just above his chest, but the white scarf he wore around his neck kept out the chill, although it was a temperature he was quite use to. The blue jeans he wore hugged his hips comfortably and he wore sneakers on his feet. The wind picked up, tousling his white hair slightly, but it didn't jar him from his thoughts.

Aizen was alive, after he, Toushiro, had killed the man, watched him die, watched the light leave his evil eyes. He couldn't understand how the man had been brought back, but he knew that he had to stop him, because once again, he was after something of Toushiro's that was precious: Talim. _I won't let him take her, and I won't let him use her for his evil deeds. I'll protect her with my life... even though I vowed to never protect anyone that way again. But Talim changed that... hell, she changed a lot about me._ He looked up and saw that he was approaching Urahara's Shop. He turned up it and returned back to his thoughts. _What's so different about Talim that she's caused some of the walls around my heart to crack? How was she able to stir up feelings that I've never felt for anyone before? How was she able to get into my heart?_

Toushiro looked up when he heard the sounds of the kids playing. He smiled when he saw Talim playing with the two kids that live with Urahara, which looked like soccer, and he realized that the questions that had been buzzing in his mind earlier didn't matter. _I'm just glad that I found her. I know I love her and that she feels the same, and I guess that's all that really matters._

The soccer ball that Talim and the kids were kicking around ended up heading in his direction. Toushiro lifted a foot and stopped it from its quick decent. He rolled the ball so it was on top of his foot and, with a flick of his foot, he tossed the ball up into the air and caught it. He walked up to them and holding the ball to the girl. "Be careful," he told them. "You don't want to lose this, do you?"

The girl shook her head and took the ball from Toushiro, returning his smile. "Thanks," she said, before turning to run back to her red headed friend, almost plowing into Talim as the young woman walked over to Toushiro.

He stood as Talim smiled and the little boy said and stepped forward and asked, "Is Toushiro going to play with us?"

Talim looked at him and asked, "How 'bout it? Do you want to play soccer with us?"

Toushiro shrugged and said, "Sure, why not?"

The girl clapped her hands and began to chatter happily. Talim hushed them, saying that it would be boys vs girls. Talim and Toushiro faced off and Talim gave him a smile, saying softly, "No cheating, _Shinigami_," before she kicked the ball over to her teammate.

Toushiro made sure that he kept it easy with the children, allowing them to take the ball from him from time to time and being careful when he kicked the ball. By the time darkness began to settle everyone was tire.

He felt something drop in his stomach and for a moment he felt a wave of sadness. He pushed it away when he saw Talim glance towards his direction and smiled and pointed toward the roof. "Alright, then." Then Talim and Toushiro headed up.

"Toushiro, do you know any good stories?"

He turned as the girl nodded . Toushiro sat beside her, looking at the stars, and said, "I know a few, but it's been a while…"

"Come on, try to remember."

"Alright…" he said, thinking. He finally thought of one. He hadn't heard it since he was still in Rukongai with Hinamori and the thought of her caused his heart to twist slightly. He sighed and began to tell the story his old childhood friend had told him years ago:

"Long ago, there was a Shinigami that fought in a battle and was close to death. As he awaited for the darkness to fall over him, a powerful dragon came to him, granting him a chance to live again, to get a second chance. The dragon said that it was not yet his time to die, that something awaited him on the horizon. The Shinigami agreed to this second chance and found himself melding with the dragon, the two souls becoming one. The dragon granted the Shinigami great power, and the ability to weld water and ice as a weapon and to control the weather.

"He learned that the dragon was looking for someone, someone who was more linked to his soul than the Shinigami was. Both the Shinigami and the dragon searched for this being, but in vain. Finally, the dragon gave up, seeing that the one he sought was lost and the Shinigami returned home.

Several hundred years later, the Shinigami found himself in the real world and while he was there, he met a mortal woman and soon the two of them fell in love. It wasn't accepted in the world where the Shinigami came from for him to love a mortal, for any Shinigami to love a mortal, but he felt such a connection to this woman that he cast aside all the rules and everything that he'd followed for centuries.

"One day, a powerful Hollow appeared before the Shinigami and injured him greatly, to the point where even the dragon was weakened. Suddenly, the mortal woman came between him and the Hollow and unleashed a great power. The next thing the Shinigami knew, a beautiful bird of fire, a phoenix, flew from the heavens to aid the woman. The two beings became one and the woman now could take the form of a Shinigami and wielded the power of fire. She defeated the Hollow before turning to the Shinigami and healing him.

"The Shinigami felt a powerful connection between him and the woman and it was then that the dragon of ice proclaimed that the phoenix of fire had been the one he sought for years ago. With the bonding of the two mystical beings to the Shinigami and the human, a bond formed that nothing could shatter.

"Although she could leave her body in the form of a Shinigami, the woman was still a mortal, and the proof of that came to light when she was killed in a great battle. The Shinigami, grief-stricken, held his fallen phoenix as he wept in the rain. He kissed her still warm lips and suddenly, a great light surrounded the two of them. The woman opened her eyes, alive and now immortal.

"It is said that the two lovers lived and fought together, their powers, although complete opposites, immense when joined together. But when the two of them died, side by side, the dragon and phoenix left the bodies but took their souls, keeping the bond between them whole so they could always be together, even if they are reborn and are separated between worlds like they had been before."

Toushiro remembered that when he had first heard this story, he scoffed it off as being a mushy love story. But now, since he was older, he could see some meaning behind the story: two very separate beings could be together. Fire and Ice, elements that could take out the other, joined together to become an even more powerful unit. The story was also tugging on something in the back of his mind, but he pushed it away and ignored it.

"Wow, that was an interesting story." Talim said as she looked at him.

"Sure." Toushiro smiled.


	11. Chapter 11

Toushiro slowly opened the door to Talim's room, peeking in before fully entering and closing the door behind him. Talim was sitting on her bed in a pair of blue flannel pajama bottoms and a white spaghetti-strap top, un-doing the thick braids in her hair, her back turned towards him slightly. This was the first time Toushiro had seen her bare back up close for the most part and was slightly surprised by the scars.

Talim released the rest of her hair, allowing it to drop over her shoulders and obscuring the scars from view. She looked at him and smiled. "Hello again. I didn't know you were still here. Staying the night?" she asked.

"Maybe," he replied. "Depends if I have to do patrol." He sat down beside her and gently swept her hair over to her left shoulder with one hand, and caressed the scars on her shoulder and back with the fingers of his other hand. "When did you get these?" he asked her.

"Some are new, some are old," Talim replied. "My grandma Kalana said once that I had the heart of a phoenix and that no matter what happens, I seem to always rise back from the ashes. I practiced fighting with my elbow blades everyday with my father for a year. He told me it was my fate to destroy or protect the blade and become the next priestess. I'm the last one. Probably because I'm a unique person and so my heart is of a unique phoenix."

"Heart and soul, perhaps," Toushiro said softly before gently kissing her shoulder directly on her scars. "They are beautiful, and it suits you."

Talim looked over her shoulder at him and smiled. Her smile then slipped slightly and she asked, "Something was troubling you when you came in… what's up?"

Toushiro sighed and his hands moved to start rubbing Talim's shoulders, working the muscle in circular motions. "Urahara told me to take care of you, and that you were more important to me than I may think."

"Urahara," Talim said slowly with a small smile, "has lived for a long time and has always known more than what he's saying."

"He's senile…" Toushiro murmured.

Talim laughed quietly and said, "No, I think don't think he's senile."

"Probably not…" he replied. He slid his arms around her shoulders and pulled her against his chest. "But he doesn't have to worry. I will take care of you."

The girl in his arms nodded and turned her face into the curve of his neck. "And I'll be there for you, whenever you need me," she said.

Toushiro buried his nose into her dark hair, inhaling the spicy exotic, clean scent of her that was Talim's and Talim's alone. He could faintly smell her perfume; vanilla laced with lavender. Her scent was exactly the same as he remembered it the first time he'd seen her: the day he saved her from a hollow in the forest. The two of them basked in the silence, just enjoying the other's company.

**.:x:.**

"Captain stayed the night with Talim at Urahara's house!" Rangiku shrieked the next day where they were all gathered under the tree during lunch break. "I'm _so_ excited! Captain's growing up!"

"Still looks short to me… OW!" Ichigo rubbed the back of his head where Talim threw a rock at him from where she sat with her back against the tree beside Toushiro. He looked over his shoulder at Talim and glared at the priestess. "What was that for?"

"So Toushiro didn't go _Bankai_ on you," Tailm said with a grin. "I think that would have hurt worse than a rock to the head."

"But it's not as satisfying," Toushiro said, wrapping his arm around Talim's shoulders, his other arm resting on an upraised knee. His icy facade was back on his face but his eyes glinted with slight amusement.

Ichigo glared at the both of them before turning back around and muttering, "Cocky little bastard… OW! WHAT THE HELL!?" He whipped around after another rock, larger this time, hit him in the same spot.

Talim grinned and said, "I'd quit while you're ahead if I were you."

"Gotta admit though," Renji said with a wicked grin. "The girl's got good aim."

"But it can't be that hard," Rukia said, taking a drink from her juice box. "He has a big head to begin with."

Ichigo glared between Rukia and Renji, Talim and Toushiro. "I hate you all…"

Toushiro rolled his eyes as Renji and Rukia cackled gleefully. Talim sighed and relaxed, leaning against Toushiro. It was apparent to the others that there was something going on between Talim and Toushiro, and the two of them wouldn't have been able to hide it if they tried. So Toushiro still kept up his icy, captain demeanor while he was around the others, but he let it be known that Talim was his.

"So, when's my first training session?" Talim asked, looking up at Toushiro.

"After school," he replied, "at Urahara's. He'll be taking over the first part; bringing out your Shinigami powers. Then you will have to learn the name of your Zanpakutoh, and that's where I come in. Just to warn you, I'm not going to go easy."

"Figures…" Talim said, rolling her eyes.

"He's not going to put Talim through the same test he did for me, is he?" Ichigo asked, looking worried.

"No," Toushiro said, shaking his head. "Your days for training were limited. Talim has as much time as it takes, because it's our mission, _my_ mission, to make sure her reiatsu doesn't become a danger to this world and Soul Society."

"But Captain," Rangiku said, "it takes six years for someone to become a Shinigami."

"It didn't take me that long, remember?"

"Besides, Talim's reiatsu is strong," Ishida said, pushing his glasses up, "much higher than Captain Hitsugaya's. When her soul shifts to that of a Shinigami, it may lower her reiatsu some, possibly to the level of Kurosaki's, or Captain Hitsugaya's depending, because I think that if she was to become a Shinigami with her reiatsu the same as it is now, it may cause drastic consequences."

"Possibly," Toushiro said, shrugging. "We'll have to see."

The bell rang, sounding the end of the lunch period. The group made their way back to class and for the rest of the day Toushiro thought of Talim's upcoming training. Will she do alright? He scoffed to himself for thinking that question. He thought of the first time he saw her facing a Hollow she faced, even though she knew the dangers. It was either stupidity or bravery, and he knew that it wasn't the former. Talim will do it; she will put her all into it.

The end of the day finally came and the group headed towards Urahara's. The ex-Shinigami was waiting for them in the underground training chamber. He looked at Talim from under the brim of his hat and said, "Are you ready, Talim?"

Toushiro wasn't surprised when Talim nodded without hesitation. What surprised him was that before Talim even finished nodding Urahara hit Talim in the forehead with the end of his cane, forcing her soul from her body. Toushiro saw the black red and white flaming head symbol on the end of his cane as he caught Talim's body before it hit the hard ground. As he gently eased her body down, Talim pushed herself up from the ground, a long chain connecting from her chest to her body. She glared at Urahara and snarled, pushing aside some of the banes that fell in front of her face.

"What was that for?!" Talim yelled, then winced, clutching at her chest. "Why is it hard to breath…?"

"Right now," Urahara said, "you have the soul of someone without spiritual powers, even though you possess them in your human form. First off, you must be able to use your spiritual power while not in your body… before your chain corrodes completely…"

"What…?" Talim was cut off when Jinta came out of nowhere with an ax and cut the chain that connected Talim to her body. "Oh no!"

"What are you doing, Urahara?" Toushiro demanded, rounding on the man. "This is a good way to change her into a Hollow!"

"And if she fails, she will turn into a Hollow," Urahara said, "and like any Hollow, she will be dealt with."

Talim jumped to her feet, but stumbled slightly as she did so. She glared at Urahara and said, "This isn't what I planned."

"But it is the only way: become a Shinigami or become a Hollow. It's your choice… now, let's begin." As Urahara unsheathed his Zanpakutoh from his cane, he said to Toushiro. "I ask you not to interfere, Captain Hitsugaya." Although he made it like a request, Toushiro knew that it was a demand in the most polite way possible.

Grunting, Toushiro nodded and stepped back, folding his arms over his chest. Talim sighed and faced Urahara. Toushiro couldn't help but let out small smile when he saw the determined look on her face. "Let's do this," she said softly.

Urahara nodded before saying, "Okiro (Wake up), Benihime."


	12. Chapter 12

Talim ran from Urahara, ignoring the slight pain in her chest as her soul chain began to corrode. She had no idea how long she'd been going like this, but it seemed like hours. She knew that if she stopped, Urahara wound kill her, but if she didn't gain her spiritual power and turn her soul into that of a Shinigami's before her chain corroded completely, she would become a Hollow and he'll kill her. So, until she somehow gained her spirit power, she had no choice but to run.

She ducked, Urahara's Zanpakutoh narrowly missing the top of her hair. She pressed her speed even faster, searching for the core where she'd always found her power. But she seemed to hit a barrier every time. And was her chain shorter than the last time she looked…? How long ago was that?

"You'll never get what you want if you keep running from it," Urahara said from somewhere behind her.

_Crud!_ Talim thought, making a quick glance behind her. _Come on, Talim, think! What is one thing that could bring up your power?"_ She then blinked as she thought of her village: every time her loved ones became endangered, Talim felt a surge of her power as she faced the Hollow. She remembered the time when Toushiro got rammed by that Hollow that somehow dodged Hyourinmaru and how her power boosted when she struck the Hollow as it went in for the kill on Toushiro. _My strength comes from the people I love, duh!_ Talim thought, feeling stupid. With a grin, she spun around and face Urahara, who stopped at her sudden change in direction.

She stood in a fighting stance, facing Urahara, her brown eyes boring into the ex-Shinigami's under his hat. _Let's give this a shot, _she thought. Bringing up her hands, she thought of Toushiro and her entire family: everyone she loved. "Hadou 4!" she yelled. "White Lightning!"

White light exploded from her hands and Urahara had to jump out of the way before Talim's kidou attack hit. Talim felt her spirit power running through her and she heard a soft shattering sound. Looking down, she blinked as her chain of fate disappeared. "I did it!" she exclaimed.

"Hmm… well now, _that_ is interesting…" Urahara said, approaching her.

"What is?"

"Your chain of fate is gone, but you aren't in the _shihakshou_ of a Shinigami," he pointed out.

Talim frowned and looked down. He was right. Her chain was gone, but she was still in her school uniform, the clothes she'd been wearing when her soul had been forced from her body. "What does it mean?" she asked.

"That you may be quite a rare Shinigami indeed, or cannot become one at all."

"Well then," Toushiro's voice sounded behind Talim. She looked around and saw that he was out of his gigai and in his Shinigami form, Hyourinmaru on his back. "Let's get to the next part of the training then." He reached over his shoulder and unsheathed Hyourinmaru. "Let's go…"

Talim jumped back as Toushiro swung his Zanpakutoh down to strike her. She found herself able to jump much higher and to move faster when she was out of her body, now that her spirit power was released. But Toushiro was fast as well, and came after her. Talim faced Toushiro and sent another kidou spell at him, which he dodged.

The two of them kept at it for several hours, Talim's attacks and movements much smoother than before. But when she visibly began to tire, Toushiro pulled back and said, "That's enough for today."

With a loud sigh, Talim dropped to the ground and laid flat on her back. She closed her eyes as she tried to return her breath back to normal. She opened one eye when she felt a shadow fall over her. Toushiro looked down at her and gave her a cocky smile. "Told you I wasn't going to go easy on you," he said.

"That was a bit too much…" was Talim's reply.

He chuckled and held out a hand to her. "Come on," he said, "it wasn't that bad."

"Naw… having a sword swung at my head for three hours isn't so bad, especially when I don't have a weapon of my own."

"You have kidou…"

"That doesn't count…"

"You almost fried me that one time."

"Well, you deserved it…"

Toushiro sighed and asked wearily, "I'm not going to win this, aren't I?"

Talim grinned and said, "Nope." She took his offered hand and he helped her up. "But you fought well, young ward."

"'Ward '?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Have you ever heard that saying before?"

"No…"

Talim sighed wearily and said, "Never mind then…"

"Wait a minute… '_young_'? I'm older than you!"

"It's a figure of speech, geez… don't go all crazy on me again…"

"If you two lovebirds are done arguing," Ichigo said, walking over to them. He was in his Shinigami form, holding Zangetsu so it was resting across his shoulders. "It's time we headed back. Plus, we need to show Talim how to return to her body."

As Toushiro glared at Ichigo, Talim looked around as Chad walked over, carrying Talim's body, with Urahara walking beside the tall young man. "It is fairly simple really," Urahara said. "Just merge back with your body."

Talim nodded and Chad laid her body gently onto the ground. She lifted her body up from behind so it was sitting up. She closed her eyes, imagining herself merging back with her body and she felt a tingle spread over her skin. When she opened her eyes, she found herself back into her body. "Hey, I did it!" she exclaimed.

"Excellent!" Urahara said, waving his fan. "You did well today, Talim. Same time tomorrow and I think you may be ready to face Captain Hitsugaya's _shikai_, don't you think so, Captain Hitsugaya?"

"I think so," Toushiro said, folding his arms over his chest. "She showed improvement within the three or so hours we trained."

"And you just want to send your dragon of ice at me…" Talim grumbled.

Toushiro smirked wickedly and said, "Of course."

**.:x:.**

"Hey! Talim!"

Talim looked around, blinking slightly to see her friend Rinoa hurrying towards her down the hall. She felt Toushiro's arm around her waist tighten slightly and she looked over at him. "It's alright," she said. "Go on ahead into the classroom. I'll meet you there."

Toushiro looked between her and Rinoa coming towards them, his cerulean blue eyes icy, but when they finally rested on Talim, they warmed slightly. "Alright," he said. He gave her a swift kiss, his lips cooler than her own, before walking into the classroom, where Talim immediately heard Rangiku squeal about seeing the two of them.

Sighing, Talim looked over at where Rinoa stood, keeping a distance while her and Toushiro talked. She approached the dark haired girl and smiled. "Hey, Rinoa," she said.

Rinoa smiled in return and said, "Hey… sorry I haven't caught up with you sooner… I've… been busy… my dad's just returned from over seas."

"Oh," Talim said, nodding. "That's good. I'm happy for you."

Rinoa smiled and said, "He's been asking about you, wondering if you're still around and if we're still friends… we… still are… right? I mean, I know what happened between you, Ayumi and Kaia, so…"

"Rinoa," Talim said, stepping close to her friend and pulling her into a tight hug. "Of course we're still friends. Ayumi and Kaia are just a bunch of stuck up snobs."

Rinoa laughed and said, "Oh, Talim! I'm so glad! I haven't spent so much time with those two ever since I heard what happened. I don't care though, as long as I still have you as a friend." She pulled away and smiled, her brown eyes bright. "So, you and Toushiro Hitsugaya, huh? That didn't take long!"

Talim laughed and said, "No, it didn't, and he really isn't that bad."

"I know," Rinoa said with a small smile. "I saw how he looked at you a moment ago. He really cares about you, I can tell."

"Yeah, he does…" Talim said, smiling softly. Then the warning bell sounded and the two of them headed into the classroom. After saying a quick good-bye, Talim went over to where the others were.

As she approached, she looked at Toushiro, who was leaning against the large window sill, hands in his pockets, talking with Ichigo and Chad. His face seemed almost relaxed and he hadn't noticed her approach yet. Something warm filled Talim as she looked at him and she thought of what Rinoa said:

"_He really cares about you, I can tell."_

With a smile, Talim rushed over to Toushiro and as he turned his head, she threw her arms around his neck, pressing her face into his neck.

"T-Talim…?" Toushiro stuttered.

"I love you," she said, soft enough so only he would hear.

She sensed his surprise and he didn't say anything. But, his arms wrapped around her and he gave her a tight squeeze, which let Talim know his response. She smiled when she felt the surprise melt away into undeniable love and affection he had for her. Although she had a feeling that it would be a long time before he finally said the words, his response was enough for now. It was Toushiro's first actual relationship and she knew that this was one of his first steps.


	13. Chapter 13

Toushiro was woken up by Isshin declaring loudly from downstairs that school was canceled for the day, and then ordered everyone to get up because they were going to have a family snowball fight. This ended by Ichigo and Karin throwing their father out into a snow bank outside, since he woke them at five-thirty in the morning, and locking him out. But by this time, everyone was wide awake so Yuzu began to cook breakfast for everyone.

Around seven thirty, Yuzu called everyone to the kitchen and they all began to sit at the table when there was a knock on the door. "I'll get it," Karin said, standing up. "I don't want dad to scare them off."

Toushiro chuckled softly as Isshin wailed about not being loved by his daughter and accepted the plate Yuzu gave him with a nod. He didn't bother to look around when he heard footsteps behind him as he began to eat until Karin said, "Hey, Toushiro, it's for you." He looked around and blinked with surprise to see Talim standing beside Karin. The dark haired girl had her braided pig tail again, her cheeks tinged with red from the cold. She smiled and Toushiro couldn't stop himself from returning it with a small smile of his own.

This, of course, set Isshin off.

"OH, OUR WHITEY-CHAN HAS A GIRLFRIEND! THERE'S GOING TO BE A WEDDING! OH, MASAKI…"

"WILL YOU SHUT UP ALREADY?!" Karin hollered, punching her father in the face and sending him flying out of his chair and almost clear out of the dining room.

"Talim, would you like to have some breakfast?" Yuzu asked, quite clearly ignoring the fight between her sister and father. "I made extra and I can set up a place for you next to Toushiro."

"That would be nice, thank you," Talim said, unraveling her scarf from around her neck. Ichigo stood and took her outdoor clothing to hang them up near the door as Talim took a seat next to Toushiro.

Toushiro leaned up close to her and said, "You're hiding your reiatsu well."

Talim gave him a quick grin and said, "I learn from the best… besides, just cause I have a high reiatsu doesn't mean I have to be an Ichigo."

"Burn…" Karin said, grinning over at her brother.

Rukia snorted, almost choking on her orange juice and Renji just out right laughed. "I like her," the red head said. "We should keep her."

"You only want her around because she's good at burning me," Ichigo said, glaring at Renji.

"All the more reason to…"

"Alright, that's enough," Toushiro said when it looked like Ichigo was about to jump across the table to strangle Renji. Talim giggled and Toushiro gave her a look. "What?"

"It's kinda funny when you go all captainy in a situation that isn't serious," she said.

Toushiro rolled his eyes and said, "Whatever…"

After Yuzu handed everyone a plate of food, they all started to eat, small talking running up and down the table. Toushiro looked over at Talim and said, "You up for training today, seeing that school's been canceled."

Talim shook her head and said, "I can't today. I came by so I can spend some time with you this morning, since I know you have patrol this afternoon and evening. There's something I have to do..."

Toushiro stared at her in question then nodded and then said, "Just be careful. Those Arrancar are still probably looking for you."

"I'll be careful, don't worry."

**.:x:.**

Talim pushed open the heavy doors of the old church, and she ran down the snow dusted runway between the pews. She ran up the front of church were several silver and blue flowers grew, despite the snow that partially covered them. Talim smiled as she stroke one of the flowers' petals lovingly. "They're always so pretty, especially during the first snow." She smiled sadly, "Because of the power she had… she would have been a Shinigami if she hadn't been human..."

She closed her eyes, feeling the faint, but quite powerful, reiatsu that flowed through the area. No Hollow came to this place because it was so pure. Lana had had a pure heart, so for her to die the way she did was unthinkable. But then again, Hollows enjoyed powerful souls and she'd been one of those souls. Although she was dead, her power lived on through the unique flowers she grew in this place, especially the ones that she made grow during the winter.

Talim stood, and then she felt a very powerful reiatsu, somewhat similar to a Hollow's but also felt like a Shinigami's. She spun around, facing the double doors. The doors flew open and a man wearing a white kimono and long white coat walked it. He had short cut black hair and the thing that let Talim that this man was an Arrancar was the white Hollow mask that covered his forehead and left eye. She recognized, from the description that Toushiro gave her of the three Arrancar brothers, that this one must be Zen.

The Arrancar smirked and stopped right inside the door. "Wanna play?" he asked, his voice echoing through the old building.

Talim glared at the Arrancar and pulled her elbow blades out, "Get out…"

"Hmm… I take that as a 'no'…" Zen said, smiling wickedly. He began to slowly walk towards her and said, "So you're the little girl that Aizen wants, the one with the powerful reiatsu. You're kinda cute… why don't you come with me."

"No," Talim said, holding her stand.

"Fine," Zen said, taking a fighting position. "Play with me then."

Talim shrugged off her winter coat and to reveal her her pink and white blouse with her red shorts, her second fighting altar. She then took her own fighting stance, her eyes boring into the black and gold eyes of the Arrancar

"Nice legs." Zen smirked and said, "Well, this should be fun."

Talim smiled coldly and said, "We'll see…" Then she lunged forward in an attack.

**.:x:.**

Renji sighed wearily as he sat at a crouch on a rooftop. The wintry November wind blew at his red hair and _shihakshou_. No sign of the Arrancar that were after Talim, and possibly the captain of the tenth division, and there were no Hollow around for Renji to take out to kill some time. Karakura Town was quite so he was bored to tears.

Suddenly, Renji felt, and heard as well for that matter, a kidou spell being used and he instantly recognized the spirit energy that used it as well. He was almost blown over by the two powerful reiatsus that came blasting from what looked like an old church a few hundred feet away, which he could see from where he sat.

One reiatsu belonged to Talim…

The other to an Arrancar.

"Shit…" Renji cursed before quickly standing and shunpoing towards the reiatsus.

**.:x:.**

"Come on, Captain, just an itty, bitty bit of information," Rangiku pleaded. "What's really going on between you and Talim, besides the obvious?"

"None of your business…" Toushiro replied, standing on the rooftop in his _shihakshou_ and white haori, the comforting weight of Hyourinmaru on his back.

"But Captain…"

"Matsumoto, if I have to tell you again, I'll…"

Toushiro wasn't able to finish his threat because he was cut off by a sudden blast of reiatsu that came from the other side of town. He stared in the direction it came from and for the first time that Rangiku ever remembered seeing, horror broke through his facade and glowed bright in his eyes.

"Talim!" he yelled before shunpoing in the direction on the reiatsus. He's worse fears had come true:

The Arrancar found Talim, and Talim was face to face against one… completely alone.

**.:x:.**

Talim's breathing was heavy as she faced the Arrancar. Her body laid a few feet away; Zen had something similar to Ichigo's Shinigami badge and struck Talim in the chest with it, forcing her soul out of her body.

"You're a different type of soul, aren't you?" Zen said with a laugh. "You smell like a Shinigami, but you look like a normal human soul. Aizen will definitely enjoy examining you. Who knows, you might make one hell of an Arrancar."

"Over my dead body," Talim hissed.

Zen laughed wickedly and said, "That's the plan; either yours or your little captain friend."

"Leave Toushiro alone," she snarled. "If it's me that Aizen wants, then deal with me and leave him alone."

"But Aizen wants you both, that's the problem," Zen said, flexing a fist. "Now, shall we continue this little game we're playing?"

Before Talim could respond, she felt Renji's reiatsu just as the red-headed Shinigami came through a hole in the roof. "Hoero (Howl), Zabimaru!" Renji yelled as his Zanpakutoh transformed. He slashed at Zen, the saw-like blade extending towards the Arrancar, who dodged it. As Renji landed beside Talim, retracting the blade, Zen chuckled slightly.

"Reinforcements, huh?" the Arrancar taunted.

"Talim, get out of here," Renji said, shifting to a battle stance. "I'll deal with him…"

"No," Talim said, stepping in front of Renji and pushing him back, all the while not removing her eyes from Zen. "Get out of here… I'll deal with bone-head here."

"But…"

"No, Renji, I'm trusting you to get out of here and protect Toushiro. Please, I can fight easier knowing that he's safe."

Renji looked at Talim for a moment before nodding and hurrying. Renji didn't waste time; as he shunpoed off.

Zen cracked a smile and said, "Ah, little girl, that's where you're wrong…"

"What…?" Before Talim could finish, Zen suddenly took on a completely new burst of speed and he struck Talim in the stomach before she could react. She cried out, but before she could drop, he grabbed her by the neck and threw her. She hit the ground amongst Lana's flowers and as her vision blurred, she saw Zen joined by two other figures. _Toushiro…_ she thought as her world slowly turned black. _Stay away…_

**.:x:.**

"Captain Hitsugaya!"

Toushiro stopped as Rukia and Ichigo joined him and Rangiku. Rukia and Ichigo looked worried as he said, "Talim is fighting against an Arrancar."

"We know," Rukia said, "we sensed her reiatsu and spirit energy flare up. We also felt Renji head in that direction as well…"

"Captain!"

Toushiro spun around as Renji landed behind them. "Talim… Talim… she's hurt!"

"What do you…?" he stopped when he suddenly felt Talim's spirit energy drop like a rock. "Damn it..." He turned to Matsumoto and said, "Get to safety, Matsumoto. I'm going after Talim. The rest of you go to Urahara's as well…" He didn't need to say anything more; they all understood.

Matsumoto nodded to him, which he returned before shunpoing in the direction Talim was.

He found her in an old church building that had flowers growing up from the thin layer of snow on the ground. Her soul was out of her body and she was unconscious. Toushiro landed beside her and lifted her up, cradling her in his arms. "Talim?" he said softly, shaking her gently. "Talim, wake up."

He let out a sigh of relief when the girl moaned. Her eyes opened to mere slits and she whispered, "You're too late… g-get out…"

"Talim, what…?" he was cut short by a painful blow to his head that sent him flying back, dropping Talim in the process. Lights flashing in his eyes, he lifted his head to see the Arrancar Kaze standing over Talim, the tip of his Zanpakutoh pressed against the girl's neck.

"Make a wrong move and your girlfriend is dead," Kaze said softly. "You're coming with us, whether you like it or not. Now, drop your Zanpakutoh and come quietly."

Toushiro cursed softly, but he removed Hyourinmaru from his back and set it on the ground in front of him. He was suddenly wrenched into a standing position by Zen, who then held his hands behind his back in an iron grip. Toushiro growled as the other Arrancar, Sazuki, picked up Hyourinmaru and held it at his side. Kaze smiled wickedly as he lifted up Talim's unconscious form and Toushiro glared at the Arrancar. "What do you plan to do with us?" he hissed.

"Why, just take you on a trip to Hueco Mundo, to meet Aizen," Kaze said as he opened a Garganta, a hole that Arrancar use to travel. "He is anticipating your arrival, especially yours, _Captain_ Hitsugaya."

"Aizen is dead," Toushiro snarled venomously.

"Well then, guess you'll just have to see to believe… won't you?"


	14. Chapter 14

"This isn't good…" Urahara said softly, staring down at the two empty bodies of Toushiro Hitsugaya and Talim. The two lay side by side on mats in the back of his shop and looked to be only sleeping… except they weren't breathing, nor had a heartbeat. Without their souls in them, they were as good as dead.

"We felt a Garganta open where Talim was fighting," Renji said. "But by the time we got there, it was too late and all we found was Talim's body."

"What do we do now?" Renji asked.

"Report to the Captain-Commander immediately," the shop keeper said, walking to the front of the shop, "and let him know that there is a great chance that Aizen is alive and he has his hands on two of the most powerful young Shinigami in both worlds. We must get them back at all costs."

"What if he orders us not to go into Hueco Mundo like he did when Orihime was kidnapped by Aizen?"

Urahara looked at the two young men from under the brim of his hat. "Then we'll just have to disobey him, like the last time."

**.:x:.**

"_Talim__… wake up…"_

"Mmm… five more minutes…"

"I don't think you have five more minutes, Talim…"

Talim's eyes flew open as memories of what happened flashed through her mind and it dawned on her that she wasn't in her warm comfy bed. She shot upright, almost knocking out Toushiro, and then grunted painfully, wrapping an arm around her mid-section. "Ow…" she mumbled, wincing slightly. She looked around her and realized that she was in what looked like a cell made out of gray stone, the entrance wall only being black bars like a cage. There was a small oval window behind her that let in the light of a full moon. She looked at Toushiro who sat beside her and realized that he was dressed in only a white yukata and was bare foot. She was still dressed in her pink and red out fit, minus her elbow blades and her shoes. "Where are we?" she asked.

"Hueco Mundo…"

"The Hollow world?!" Talim cried. "Oh no!" She tried jumping to her feet, but then dropped back down onto her rear when pain shot through her body from her mid-section. "My stomach…" she groaned.

"Here…" Toushiro said, moving so he knelt next to her. "Let me see…"

Talim rolled over and he pulled her pink blouse up under her breasts and looked down. Her entire lower torso was covered in a black and dark purple bruise. She winced as Toushiro placed his fingers on the mark, so he lightened his touch. He then gently rested a hand over it and she felt his hand grow cool, which soothed the pain. She looked up at his face and saw that it was slightly contorted with rage and hate.

"That bastard's going to pay," he said softly, removing his hand after a while.

"There's not much you can do now," Talim said wearily. "You don't even have Hyourinmaru…"

"I know that…" Toushiro growled. "They put a block on my spirit energy as well, so I can't use kidou… I'm worthless right now."

"No you're not," Talim said, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "You're keeping me sane right now. If you weren't here, I'd be going crazy right about now."

Toushiro smirked slightly, which heightened Talim's spirits a tad. He looked at her and said, "We're in trouble, Talim."

"I know it…" she replied wearily. She then pushed herself to her feet, staggering slightly. "They put a block on your spirit energy, but they didn't on mine for some reason."

"Probably because they don't see you as much as a threat, since you aren't a full Shinigami."

"So they underestimate me?" Talim said with a frown. She brought a hand up close to her face, all fingers closed except her pointer and thumb which were in a relaxed state. "I'll show them then…" She then swung her hand forward towards the bars, hoping to blow a hole through them…

Instead the fire she created struck a barrier of some sort and exploded.

"WAHH!"

"Talim!" Toushiro cried, throwing himself at her and sending them both to the back of the cell, his body covering hers. He looked down at her and glared. "Are you trying to kill us?!"

Talim glare and remarked, "Geez, Captain I don't think so, but why don't you tell me since I'm an underling!"

Toushiro rolled his eyes and sat up, looking back at where the barrier still seemed to be smoking from Talim's attack. "What was that?" he asked her.

"I call it Kidou Fire," Talim replied, sitting up and wincing as she did from her injury. "I created it…"

"You what?!"

"I thought that maybe if I focused enough, I could form fire with spirit energy, and hey what do you know, it worked. I did lightening and wind too, but that's about it."

"Talim that could have been dangerous…"

"Yeah, well, when am I ever careful?"

"Good point…"

Talim smiled and then it slowly turned to a frown. "What's gonna happen to us, Toushiro?" she asked softly.

Toushiro pulled her into his embrace, holding her close. "I don't know," he admitted, "but we'll get out of here. The others are going to be coming after us as soon as they can."

"But what if they can't…?"

"Then we'll get out of here ourselves."

Talim buried her face into his yukata and could feel his heartbeat, pounding almost as fast as hers. _He's scared too… Although he won't ever show it, he's just as afraid as I am._ She heard footsteps approaching and looked up as a black man wearing dark glasses over his eyes approach. His hair hung in cornrows and she could see that beyond the dark glasses his eyes were closed, indicating that he was blind.

"Kaname Tousen…" Toushiro hissed softly.

He stopped in front of the cell and said, "Aizen will see you both now. Stand and don't cause trouble."

Toushiro helped Talim stand and still held her close. They walked out of the cell as the door opened and were immediately flanked by what seemed to be two lesser Arrancar. He separated himself from her, but took a firm hold of her hand as Tousen led them down the dark passage. Only the sound of their feet walking on the stone was all they heard as they walked down the long passageway. Ahead Talim could see a light forming and it grew bigger the closer they got. She squeezed Toushiro's hand tightly and his grip tightened as well.

They entered into a large white room that had a white throne in the center up on a dais that had three steps leading up to it. Sitting up on the throne was a man with dark eyes and brown hair that was slicked back except for a few strands that hung over his left eye. He smirked at the sight of them and said, "Welcome to my palace, Captain Hitsugaya…"

"Aizen!" Toushiro roared and he lunged forward, only to have Talim pull him back by his arm. He didn't try again, but stood there trembling all the same.

"You must be wondering how I am alive, when it was you that pierced me with your Zanpakutoh," Aizen said, standing and stepping down from the dais. "Let's just say that the pretty girl who is clutching your arm is part of the reason I stand before you now."

"What…?" Toushiro exclaimed, looking at Talim.

"What do you mean?" Talim asked softly, fear creeping in her voice.

"Talim, daughter of village chief of the Wind Deity, the Guardian of the Temple of the Wind Spirit, the one which has an interesting item inside, Soul Calibur. Your girlfriend hasn't exactly been telling you the whole truth of what she is."

Toushiro pulled away from Talim and looked at her, his eyes widening. "Talim…?" he asked softly. "What is he saying?"

Talim looked away and said, "My village was of people who protected a sacred temple… from Hollows… that's why I knew so much about them when you first met me."

"She's a Hollow Slayer," Aizen said softly. "They protected the temple of a sword that had control over life and death. It was said that no one could get past them… until the day _I_ arrived."

Talim looked up at Aizen, her eyes widening. _It can't be…_

Aizen smiled and unsheathed his Zanpakutoh. He tossed it point down so it embedded itself into the stone floor. "Recognize the blade, Talim?" he asked softly.

Talim stared at the blade, remembering it being covered in the blood of her father and the other villagers. The memories came flashing back to her:

_Aizen arrived in her village one day, seeming like a completely normal traveler. They welcomed him to their village and Talim herself showed him around. She remembered him asking a few questions about the temple they protected, but she had answered them as bluntly as possible so as not to give away too much information._

_That night, Hollows attacked and many of the slayers left to fight them. What the rest of the villagers didn't realize was that the main threat was still amongst them and they only found out when their homes were set afire and they felt the piercing blade of a sword run through each and every one of them. Talim remembered running off after her father and finding him dead… seeing the sword that killed him… picking up that sword and running in the direction of the temple, just knowing that Aizen would be there._

_He was there, inside the temple, walking up the steps of the tall dais towards the statue of the Wind Spirit. He was dressed in white clothing and had a hole in his chest, like an Arrancar, but with no mask. She ran up those steps and rose up the sword, but Aizen turned around in one fluid movement, grabbed a hold of her wrists and lifted her up into the air. She glared at him and he smiled wickedly at her before wrenching his Zanpakutoh from her hand and throwing her back down the stairs, which she crashed down and then blacked out when she hit the bottom._

_When she woke up, Aizen was gone, the statue was destroyed and the sword that had been in the statue was gone as well: the Soul Calibur, the sword that held the power the wielder possessed._

"It was you…" Talim said softly. "You killed all the people of my village… and my father…"

"I wanted my own body back," Aizen said simply. "I wanted to become alive and powerful once more, so I needed the sword. I used it to bring myself back, and Kaname here. I tried to bring back Gin, but he must still be alive somewhere… no matter. But here I am, all thanks to you and your people, Talim."

Talim growled and glared at Aizen. "Monster…" she snarled.

Aizen just smiled and then he said, "Where is the wind phoenix, Talim?"

"Huh?" Talim exclaimed, becoming quite confused.

"Release your spirit energy and call it forth… I know you have it, so give it to me."

"Don't Talim," Toushiro said. Talim looked over at him, where he stood a few feet away after retreated from her when he realized that she'd lied to him, looking straight ahead. His eyes glowed with hurt, but a fierce determination was held in them as well. "He's trying to gain control of your spirit energy… don't let him, no matter what."

"I think I can convince her to give it to me," Aizen said, nodding to the two Arrancar behind them. The two retreated just as Sazuki and Zen entered and grabbed a hold of Toushiro. Kaze walked in, followed by the two Arrancar who held a long metal table between them. The table was set down before Aizen and Sazuki and Zen pulled Toushiro over to it. The two Arrancar managed to get the struggling captain lying on the table and Aizen performed a binding spell to prevent him from moving. "Now, I will ask again, Talim," Aizen said softly. "Release your spirit energy to me."

"Don't Talim," Toushiro said, turning his head to look at her. "No matter what, don't listen to him, you hear me?"

Talim looked at Toushiro in the eye and whispered, "I'm sorry…"

"Your answer, Talim?" Aizen asked, his smile widening, obviously thinking that she was going to give in.

Talim looked at Toushiro until he nodded and then she looked up at Aizen. She glared at him. "No…" she said.

Toushiro cracked a smile as Aizen's disappeared. He then nodded and looked over at Sazuki. "Sazuki," he said softly. "Release your Zanpakutoh."

The long haired Arrancar nodded and walked over to stand over Toushiro's head. He unsheathed his Zanpakutoh, which was only about two feet long, and placed the tip on Toushiro's forehead.

"Sazuki's Zanpakutoh is quite interesting, stemmed off of his enjoyment of tormenting the souls he hunted before he devoured them when he was a Hollow," Aizen said, his cold smile returning. "He shall demonstrate on our young captain here." He then looked at Sazuki and nodded.

The Arrancar returned the nod before looking back down at Toushiro. "Kashou (Burn), Nejiru (Torturer)."

Toushiro began to scream loudly, the noise piercing Talim's ears. With a cry, she brought her hands up to cover them, only to have Tousen come up behind her and bring her hands down, holding them behind her back. She squeezed her eyes shut, to prevent herself from looking at Toushiro thrashing on the metal table, unable to escape the pain.

"Open your eyes, girl," Aizen said over the white haired Shinigami's screams. "Or Sazuki will make it worse for him. You _will_ watch."

Talim forced herself to open her eyes and felt tears stream down her face as she watched Toushiro being tortured in a way that she couldn't see. He continued to scream for what seemed like hours, Sazuki not letting up on what he was doing to him. Then Toushiro let out one last scream before going slack, his cerulean blue eyes blank and staring. For a moment, Talim thought that he was dead until she saw his chest rise and fall with his shallow breathing. Sazuki removed his Zanpakutoh from Toushiro's forehead and sheathed it before he and Zen lifted up the unconscious Shinigami's body.

"I'll give you some time to think it over, Talim," Aizen said. "Then I will have the two of you come back and if I must, I will put Captain Hitsugaya through that again, and will continue to do so until you give me the answer I want." He then gestured with his hand and Talim was led away by Tousen.

Talim shut her eyes, willing herself not to start sobbing. She couldn't stop Toushiro's screams echoing through her head.


	15. Chapter 15

"So Aizen has somehow returned to the living," Yamamoto said, looking at both Renji and Ichigo through the screen of the communicator. "You say that he has taken Captain Hitsugaya and Talim?"

"Yes," Renji said, nodding. "Talim faced off with an Arrancar and Captain Hitsugaya went to aid her. Before we could act, we sensed a Garganta opening and then both of their reiatsus vanished. They have been taken to Hueco Mundo."

"You said that you felt Amaterasu's reiatsu drop, but not Hitsugaya's, before both disappeared?"

"Yeah," Ichigo said. "My bet is that they threatened Talim's life and forced Toushiro to go with them. He would do anything to make sure Talim wasn't killed."

Yamamoto looked at the two of them and said, "Prepare yourselves to enter Hueco Mundo, Vice-Captain Abarai, and Ichigo Kurosaki. The two of you alone must enter the Hollow world and retrieve Captain Hitsugaya and Talim. Rukia Kuchiki and Rangiku Matsumoto are to remain in the real world in case anything happens. We cannot allow Aizen to have his hands on those two Shinigami."

"Right!" both Ichigo and Renji coursed, nodding.

"Be careful," Yamamoto said before sighing off.

Ichigo looked at Renji and asked, "You think they're still alive?"

"They have to be," Renji said, turning to leave the room. "Or else why would Aizen take them alive in the first place?" He opened the door.

They were running out of time.

.:x:.

Toushiro groaned painfully as he opened his eyes. He hurt all over, but the pain wasn't as horrible as it had been while it was being inflicted upon him. He was lying on the stone floor and he carefully pushed himself upright, looking around. At first he began to panic because he couldn't see Talim anywhere in the cell. Then his eyes rested on her, sitting in the shadows, holding her knees close to her chest and staring at the floor in front of her. Once again, pain flitted through him, but it was a different kind of pain: emotional pain.

Talim had lied to him, well, at least didn't tell him the whole truth, and that hurt more than the torture he just went through… how long was it ago? He looked over at where she sat across the cell room from him. Both were silent, neither saying anything, nor moving towards each other. Finally, Talim whispered, "I'm sorry…"

"You should have told me," Toushiro said softly, his hurt evident in his voice.

"I wanted to forget… losing my family was hard enough, but remembering what I had been… plus, I was afraid of what you would think of me… that's not my life anymore and I wanted to put it behind me…" Talim's arms tightened around her knees and Toushiro could see the tears in her eyes, glinting from the moonlight that streamed through the small window. "I wanted to forget… and I didn't want you to think of me differently. I know how Shinigami feel about the Quincy, and we were no different from them. We saw Hollows as monsters, not as lost souls, and we killed them as monsters. We protected a spirit that had control over life and death, instead of destroying the sword that many before have tried to do… we were monsters and I just… I just… couldn't tell you… I didn't want you to see me as a monster…" Talim pressed her face into her knees and began to cry softly.

Toushiro crawled over to her and sat beside her. Pulling her close to him, he held her tightly as Talim pressed her face into his yukata and cried. "I don't see you as that, Talim…" Toushiro said, running his fingers through the hair that was falling out of it's braided pigtails, focusing on not getting his fingers hooked into the loops of braids that surrounded the base. "I don't judge people by their past… I just wish you would have told me the whole truth."

"It's _my_ fault that Aizen is back!" Talim cried. "If we didn't protect that sword and destroyed it instead, then Aizen wouldn't have come back."

"He would have found another way, the bastard is like that," Toushiro said with a soft snort. "But think about it, Talim… if things didn't happen like they did, even though most of them are horrible, we wouldn't have met. I would still be the stoic, stick-up-the-ass guy I had been before I met you."

Talim giggled softly. "Guess you're right, but still…"

"What's done is done, and we can't change it, but we can deal with it. We'll get out of here and kick Aizen's ass and make sure he doesn't come back."

Talim nodded and looked up at him, her eyes still wet from tears. She cupped his face with both of her hands and said, "I'm sorry he did that to you, just because he wants my spirit energy. I guess saying no wasn't the best idea."

"I thought it was brilliant," Toushiro said with a smile. "But still, Talim, you can't give in, alright? No matter what he does to me, or you, do _not_ give him what he wants. He can't win."

"But… but… what if he… Toushiro, I don't want him to hurt you like that again. He said he was going to every time I don't give him the answer he wants."

"Talim," Toushiro said firmly, taking Talim's hands and gripping them tightly. "I don't care what he does to me. Don't. Give. Him. What. He. Wants. Promise me that you won't, even if he… just, promise me okay?"

"But…"

"_Promise_ me, Talim!"

Talim nodded, fresh tears spilling from her eyes. "I promise," she whispered faintly.

Toushiro nodded and then he took her face in his hands and kissed her, putting as much passion and love in it as he could. Talim's arms wrapped around his neck as he deepened their kiss, moving one of his arms to wrap around her waist while using the other to steady themselves as he lowered Talim to the floor. Talim's fingers tangled through his hair, making it messier than it was normally. He finished their kiss with a few soft, shallower kisses, before pressing his face into her neck and kissing her pulse. He drank in her scent and whispered, "When we get out of here, I'm making you mine."

He felt Talim nod and sighed as she buried her face into his hair, wrapping her arms around him and holding him close. They laid like that for several minutes, each taking in the scent, feel and even reiatsu of the other, before Toushiro shifted himself to lie next to Talim. Both of them facing each other and Toushiro closed his eyes as Talim gently brushed that lock of hair that always hung over his left eye. He let out a soft, slightly shaky, sigh as her fingers moved lightly over his closed eyelids and brushed against his lips before she kissed them gently with her own. He slowly opened his eyes to stare into her brown ones. Talim gave him a soft smile before snuggling her body close to his, her arms wrapping tightly around him.

Toushiro closed his eyes again and allowed a peaceful sleep to wash over him, holding Talim close to himself. He didn't know how long it was going to last, but for now, he will take what he could.

.:x:.

Forty-eight hours was what it took for Urahara to locate Talim's and Toushiro's reiatsus in Hueco Mundo and to prepare for the opening of a Garganta. Ichigo thought that forty-eight hours was too much time wasted, but it couldn't be helped. Even still, he couldn't help but wonder if Talim and the icy 10th Division captain were still alive. _They have to be… both are too stubborn to give up and if one of them began to, the other would kick their ass back into gear, especially Talim._

"All set?" Urahara yelled down to them from the beam he stood on that was sticking out from one of the cliff faces.

"Ready!" Ichigo yelled back.

"Be careful," Rangiku said softly, "and bring Captain and Talim back."

Renji nodded and said, "We will."

"Don't do anything stupid, Ichigo," Rukia said teasingly although Ichigo could see the slight fear in her eyes.

"I'll try not to," Ichigo said with a smirk. Then he and Renji faced forward as Urahara opened the Garganta. The two Shinigami looked at each other, smirked and then jumped into the darkness, entering the world of Hollows. Using the spirit particles that made up the air of the world, they ran in the direction they could sense Talim and Toushiro's, mainly Talim's since Toushiro's seemed to be weakening, reiatsus.

"Hang on, guys," Ichigo said softly. "We're coming."

.:x:.

Although Toushiro continued to scream, Talim knew that he wasn't there anymore, but somewhere deep in the recess of his mind, to escape from the pain that racked his body. She didn't know how long they've been in this hell, but Aizen has done this to Toushiro almost ten times now. After the second time, when he woke up again, Toushiro told her that when he pulled himself back into his mind, he couldn't feel the pain anymore. But every time he went through this torture after that, it took him longer and longer to wake up. Talim was afraid that he was going to end up being lost in his mind and not wake up. But she had to keep her promise to him, no matter what.

Aizen made a cutting gesture with his hand and Sazuki pulled his Zanpakutoh back. The man looked up at Talim, who still stared at Toushiro's still, heavily breathing form. His cerulean blue eyes were glazed over and staring into nothing and Talim couldn't feel _anything_ coming from him. It was like he was nothing more than an empty shell now.

"Have you changed your mind yet, Talim?" Aizen asked softly. "I don't think Captain Hitsugaya can take much more until his mind and body collapses."

Talim looked up at Aizen, anger and hate blazing through her body. "Go to hell…" she growled.

Aizen just shrugged and gestured for Sazuki to continue. As Toushiro's screams filled the room again, Talim retreated to the back of her mind. _How much longer do we have…? How much more of this can I actually take before I break?_

"_Talim,__ can you hear me?"_

Talim blinked but refused to allow her surprise to show on her face. _Now I'm hearing voices…_

"_So you can hear me… I am relieved."_

_I am hearing voices!_

"_You don't know who I am, do you?"_

Talim thought for a while. The voice sounded calm, ancient and kind, but also powerful and fierce. And the feeling she felt when she heard him was a slight coolness, as if her body temperature dropped a few degrees. _Wait a minute! Hyourinmaru!?_

"_Yes, it is me,"_ the icy dragon said to her.

_How are you talking to me?_

"_You and Toushiro are linked, so I can communicate to you through him. I haven't done it before because you had yet to tap into your own Shinigami powers, but now, you are so close to hearing your _own _Zanpakutoh that now I can talk to you through your mind."_

_You know what my Zanpakutoh is, don't you?_

"_Yes, and I can only help you so much… call out for her and she will hear you. But hurry… Toushiro doesn't have much time left."_

Talim began to panic as she looked at Toushiro. _I won't let you die…_ she thought before retreating back into her mind and crying, _Help me, please! I need you now, please come to me!_ She heard nothing except a faint buzzing of her mind. _Where are you? Can you hear me?_

"_I can hear you…"_ a soft, musical but powerful voice said, sounding almost as ancient as Hyourinmaru's. It was female, but had a slight tenor to it as well. _"But… can you hear me?"_

_I can! Oh, thank goodness I can!_

"_I'm glad, now… can you hear my name? It's…"_

_What? I couldn't hear it!_

"_Listen with all of your heart and soul. Reach deep inside of yourself and pull me out."_

Talim closed her eyes and she saw a burst of white and blue flame. _Is that you?_

"_It is me, now, reach out for me and hear my name. Pull me out and save the one you love!"_

"_You can do it, Talim,"_ Hyourinmaru's voice said and Talim looked around to see the icy dragon crouched beside her. _"Reach for her and bond to her."_

Talim nodded and she stepped forward. She reached out and stuck her hand into the searing flames. She could feel them burning her skin, but she ignored it, focusing on the voice that was her Zanpakutoh.

"_Pull me in, and release me!"_

Talim focused on drawing in that fire, as if she was drinking in water. She then thought of Toushiro and how she always drank in his scent. The flames seemed to cool, turning from immense pain to a warm comforting sensation. She embraced the warmth as she immersed herself deeper into the flames. _I'm coming, Toushiro…_

"_RELEASE ME!"_

Talim screamed as she felt her reiatsu and spirit energy explode. Something seemed to emerge from her body and amongst the flames she saw a hilt of a sword. It was long, just maybe an inch shorter than Hyourinmaru's, and bound in dark blue leather. She reached for it and pulled it out. She felt more than saw the true form of her Zanpakutoh as her name filled Talim's head.

On the outside, Aizen and the Arrancar were suddenly shocked at the explosion of fire that engulfed Talim. As they watched, a streak of flame burst from the fire and struck one of the lesser Arrancar. They heard the sound of a sword slicing through flesh and the screech of the Arrancar as it was killed.

The flames faded, revealing Talim standing over a dead Arrancar. Her dark hair swayed loose from the braids from the pressure of her reiatsu. She was wearing the _shihakshou_ of a Shinigami, white _tabi_, and a pair of _zori_: the usual uniform of a Shinigami. She turned her head towards Aizen and the Arrancar, who were staring at her with shock and surprise. She then held out her Zanpakutoh horizontal to the floor at her side and with her other arm outstretched, she slowly turned her body, creating a wind that was pleasantly warm to her, but unbearably hot to others. Her brown eyes glowed with an inner light as she called out her Zanpakutoh.

"Kashou Koukouto! (Burn Brightly!)" she cried. "Shirohouou! (White Phoenix!)"


	16. Chapter 16

Ichigo and Renji ran through the maze like hallways of what they guessed to be Aizen's palace. They could feel Captain Hitsugaya's and Talim's reiatsus, only the icy captain's seemed to grow fainter with every pulse. It could only mean one thing: the captain was dying.

"Damn it…" Renji cursed as two Hollow appeared in front of them. "We're not going to make it in time."

"We will, damn it!" Ichigo yelled, slicing through one of the Hollow's white mask, destroying it. "We have to."

The two of them continued to take out more Hollow that tried to block their path and they could feel Hitsugaya's reiatsu growing fainter by the minute. Renji began to feel that they weren't going to make it to the captain before his reiatsu disappeared completely.

Suddenly, his reiatsu was shrouded by a high and powerful one. Ichigo and Renji looked at each other. They recognized the spirit pressure, and had a good feeling on what it meant.

"Talim…" Ichigo said slowly.

"Ha!" Renji laughed, slicing through a Hollow with more enthusiasm than a moment before. "Looks like the spitfire obtained _shikai_. Aizen must be pissing his pants."

"Yeah, well, let's get there before he recovers," Ichigo said, running forward again once the way was cleared.

**.:x:.**

A white phoenix with blue flames on its wings and the top of its head hovered over Talim, its wings beating slowly to keep it airborne. Two long dark blue tail feathers flowed around Talim, the ends turning into flames, almost like they were shielding her from her enemies with the burning flames. The phoenix's eyes were a bright violet and glared down at Aizen.

"Shirohouou…" Talim said softly. "The female phoenix of blue fire…the only known female phoenix to be exact." She pointed her sword at Aizen and asked, "Is this the phoenix you seek."

Aizen smirked and said, "It is…"

"That's a shame…" Talim said, closing her eyes with a small smile. "Because she doesn't want to go with you…" She then opened her eyes and shunpoed towards Aizen, swinging her blade down with a wave of fire. Shirohouou shrieked and swooped down at Aizen who dodged the attack. Talim swung her blade in an arch and sent a wave of fire at Sazuki. The Arrancar burst into flames and began to shriek unworldly. "Shinkou Honoo (Deep Crimson Flame)," she said and the phoenix swooped down onto the burning Arrancar and released dark crimson flames at him from her beak. She passed through the Arrancar, as he let out one last shriek before disintegrating.

Shirohouou returned to Talim, who sealed her Zanpakutoh and sheathed it onto her back in a dark blue sheath that was held to her back by a blue sash; a lot like Toushiro had Hyourinmaru. She turned to Toushiro on the table and broke the bindings on him with her own kidou. She sat him up and got him off the table, slinging one of his arms across her shoulders. "I'm getting you out of here," she said softly to him. She glared at Aizen one last time before shunpoing out of the throne room before either he or his minions could come out of their shock.

She got as far away from there as she could, suppressing her reiatsu like she'd been taught so it would make them harder to find. She finally slowed to a normal walk when she felt safe and began to find her way out of there. "Well this stinks, huh Toushiro?" Talim said, looking over at the white haired captain. "None of those glowy signs that lead to an exit." Toushiro didn't reply, only stared blankly with his eyes glazed over. Talim frowned as she turned a corner and then said, "First we need to find where they put your stuff…" _Hyourinmaru, can you still hear me?_

"_I can,"_ the ice dragon replied.

_Where are you being kept?_

"_Keep going straight… I can sense Toushiro coming closer."_

Talim followed the Zanpakutoh's directions until he led her to a small room where she found Toushiro's Shinigami uniform, haori and Hyourinmaru. After redressing the still comatose captain, Talim continued onward. She could sense Ichigo's and Renji's reiatsus somewhere, but was unsure where they were exactly in the vast building. "Hope I will bump into them…" she murmured. She glanced at Toushiro again and smirked. "Who would have thought that they would send the two boneheads to save us, eh, Toushiro?" As expected, she received no reply. _At least he's sorta walking on his own… that's a good sign._ As long as she had a hold of him and led him in the right direction, he moved almost on his own.

After a while, Toushiro's breathing started to become labored and at one point he stumbled. Talim caught him and sighed wearily. "Sorry, Toushiro, I'd let you take a break, but I can't risk it. We need to keep moving."

Suddenly, three small Hollow attacked Talim from behind. She reached over her shoulder and grasped Shirohouou's hilt. The sheath dissolved into red sparks as she swung the sword from her back and sliced one of the Hollows in half without even looking around. She then crouched, letting go of Toushiro, and then pushed off of the floor, swinging her blade in a fiery swing, taking out another Hollow. She then put a spin to the end of that attack to kill off the last Hollow. She cast a quick look around before returning her sword to her back where the sheath materialized back into place on the red sash and walked back over to where Toushiro lay a few feet away. She helped him back up, throwing one of his arms across her shoulders and wrapping one of her arms around his waist. "I'm getting the hang of this Shinigami thing," she told him as they continued forward towards Ichigo's and Renji's reiatsus, moving at a slow pace so Toushiro wouldn't collapse from exhaustion.

She turned a corner and her way was blocked by two lesser Arrancar. "Where do you think you're going, sweet thing?" one said.

Talim sighed and gently lowered Toushiro to sit against the wall. "Lemme take care of these losers…" she said, unsheathing her sword again, only this time shoving it into the stone floor, tip first, in front of the comatose Shinigami. A softly glowing gold barrier surrounded Toushiro around him, protecting him from any attacks. "Protect him, Shirohouou," Talim said softly to her Zanpakutoh before facing her opponents and shifting into a fighting position.

"Ha! The little girl's gonna take us without her sword!"

"I'll show you little…" Talim said with a small smile before launching herself forward and slamming a fist into the Arrancar who spoke's head. There was an explosion of gold and red light before the Arrancar dissolved into black miasma. The other one's eyes widened and he unsheathed his Zanpakutoh. He swung it down and Talim brought up an arm to block it, using spirit energy to form a barrier around her arm to protect it. She swung her other fist at the Arrancar, who dodged it.

"Getsuga Tensho! (Moon Fang Striking the Sky)"

Talim smirked as Ichigo's attack sliced through the unsuspecting Arrancar and she threw in one final strike before it dissipated. She looked over at where Ichigo and Renji stood in their _bankai _forms and raised her eyebrows. "Took you two long enough?" she asked.

"Hey, we're here to save your ass," Renji said, "so don't give us lip."

"Yeah, yeah," Talim said, waving her hand at them as she returned to where Toushiro still sat. Pulling her sword free from the floor, which dismissed the barrier, she crouched in front of him. "Time to get out of here, Toushiro," she said softly. "Hang in there for just a little bit longer." She then helped him up and faced the other two.

Renji's eyes widened at the sight of the prodigy captain and Ichigo sputtered out, "W-what happened?!"

"Aizen…" was all Talim said before continuing forward. "Let's just get him out of here."

Talim followed Ichigo and Renji as they backtracked their way out of the palace. Then Ichigo began to fish through his _shihakshou_, muttering, "Where is it, where is it… ha!" He held out a small marble and said, "Urahara made this so we can get out of here." He then broke the marble between his fingers and a Garganta opened up into the real world.

Talim went through, taking Toushiro with her, the other two right behind her. She found herself in the underground cavern of Urahara's shop. She let out a sigh of relief before she suddenly felt lightheaded. She was able to see Ichigo lunge for her as she began to collapse before she blacked out.

**.:x:.**

Talim opened her eyes to see Orihime looking down at her. The girl's face broke into a grin as she said, "Oh, you're awake Talim! Thank goodness!"

Talim slowly sat up, letting out a soft moan as she did. She looked around and saw that she was lying on a mat in a back room of Urahara's shop, wearing a yukata. "How long was I out?" she asked.

"Umm… three days now," Orihime said. "It was mostly from exhaustion, why you passed out, but part of it was obtaining your _shikai_ so fast in one shot, Urahara said."

Talim nodded and then she looked over at Orihime. "Where's Toushiro?" she asked.

Orihime's eyes saddened slightly and Talim felt something tighten inside of her. "He's… he's alive, if that what you're wondering," she said. Before Talim could give a sigh of relief, the girl continued. "But… he's in like a coma… Urahara says that he's lost somewhere in his mind and can't get out. He says that the longer he stays like that, the less likely he's going to recover and wake up."

Talim looked away and stared at the wall, her mind buzzing. Toushiro never waking up… just the thought made her want to scream at the unfairness of it all. "It's my fault…" she said softly, tears falling slowly from her eyes.

"Huh?!"

"Aizen tortured Toushiro to try to get at me, to try to make me give him my spirit energy, or at least side with him so he could use it. Toushiro told me not to give in, no matter what. He made me promise and now he's… it's my fault…"

"No, it's not…"

Talim looked around and stared at Ichigo who was leaning against the door frame. She blinked, figuring that he'd been there for a while now.

"Don't blame yourself, because it isn't your fault," he said. "Toushiro made the decision to protect you, and nothing would stop him from doing it after he had his mind set on it. The little bastard is stubborn like that. He cares about you enough to put his life, sanity, hell even his duty, on the line for you and when he cares for someone that much, he'll do anything for them, no matter what. He's strong and he'll pull through, so if you feel that you owe him, just being there for him will be more than enough. Blaming yourself won't help you any and will only make him worse. He needs you now, so stay strong for him."

Talim nodded and wiped her eyes. "You're right," she said, "but I still feel guilty…"

"Someday, when you put your life on the line for him, you'll understand."

Talim looked over at Orihime and said, "I want to see him… can you help me?"

Orihime nodded and she helped Talim stand up. Ichigo walked up beside her and guided her with a hand on the small of her back. Orihime held her hand and elbow and the three of them made their way to the other room.

When they walked in, they immediately saw the young captain lying on a mat on the floor, wearing a clean yukata, his eyes closed with a white blanket covering him to his chest and his arms on top of the blanket at his sides. Rangiku sat beside him, holding one of his hands. She looked up at their entrance and Talim knew that the lieutenant hadn't slept in days by the dark circles under her eyes and the way her hair was all in disarray. She gave Talim a warm smile as Ichigo and Orihime led her to Toushiro's other side. "I'm glad to see you awake and alright," Rangiku said softly.

"How is he?" Talim asked as she slowly sank to the floor beside him. She took his other hand in one of hers, gently brushing her thumb over the back of it. His skin was cold, like ice.

"I think he's dreaming," Rangiku replied, looking down at Toushiro's peaceful face. "His eyelids twitch every once in a while and I can see his lips move as if he's talking or something. But he doesn't respond to anything I say or do… I haven't left his side since Renji and Ichigo brought the two of you back." Rangiku then looked up at Talim and said, "They told me how you protected him against two Arrancar. Thank you, for doing that."

Talim nodded and said, "I wanted to get the both of us out of there." She looked at Rangiku and said, "Why don't you get some sleep? I'm going to stay with him now."

Rangiku looked hesitant until Ichigo placed a hand on her shoulder. "You can't do much to help him if your exhausted, Rangiku," he said.

"Ichigo's right," Renji said, coming into the doorway that led to the front of the shop. "Come on, Rangiku. We'll get something to eat and then you can rest."

Rangiku nodded and after squeezing Toushiro's hand lightly and planting a soft kiss on his forehead, she stood up and walked out with Renji, who wrapped an arm around her waist as he led her out. Talim looked up at Ichigo and asked, "Where's our Zanpakutoh?"

"Urahara has them somewhere safe, why?"

"Can I have them both? I think it'll help Toushiro if Hyourinmaru is close to him, since he was separated from him the entire time we were in Hueco Mundo. And I want mine with me."

Ichigo nodded and he left to get hers and Toushiro's weapons. Orihime gave Talim one last smile before walking out as well. When Ichigo came back with the Zanpakutoh, Talim placed Hyourinmaru on his other side and rested Shirohouou next to her. She then held Toushiro's hand up and placed a soft kiss on the back of it. "I'm here, Toushiro," she said softly. "And I'm not leaving you until you open and look at me with your beautiful eyes again."


	17. Chapter 17

Talim stayed with Toushiro for the next two days. She would talk to him, hoping that maybe it would help wake him up, but she was unsuccessful. The young Shinigami captain laid like he was sleeping, breathing evenly with a peaceful look on his face. From time to time the peacefulness would be broke by a grimace or furrowed eyebrows, sometimes his eyes would twitch and his lips would move so quick that she wasn't sure what he was saying. But other than that, no one would think that he had gone through a terrible ordeal and was now suffering the consequences for it.

As lieutenant of the 10th Division, Rangiku took over the mission in Toushiro's wake, and she put her all into it, saying that she wanted her captain to be proud of her when he woke up; they all were using that word: _when_, not _if_.

As Talim recovered herself, she didn't leave Toushiro's side. She slept and ate beside him and if she had to leave, she made sure that it wasn't for more than five minutes. But as the days went by, she began to think that maybe he wasn't going to wake up this time.

On the third night, Talim woke up to silence, moonlight streaming through the window and making Toushiro's hair glow silver. She slowly sat up, not removing her hand from his and she looked at his face. "Where are you, Toushiro?" she whispered softly. She adjusted the blanket over her shoulders to keep out the cold and sat up, looking into his calm features. She started to feel her eyes droop again as she said, "I wish I could find you, and help you back…"

Talim blinked and she found herself in what looked like a cave that had crevices and pools of fire and lava. When she looked down at herself, she saw that she was in her Shinigami outfit and all. There was a _whoosh _noise behind her and she looked around and let out a soft gasp as a giant white bird, bigger than two large elephants, with blue flames on the bottoms of its wings and on its head landed beside her, black talons scraping the stone and creating sparks. It had a long graceful neck and the proud head of a falcon. Its eyes, a deep violet, stared down at Talim with an ancient intelligence and the two long tail feathers lay on the ground, circling itself and her. Talim knew who this was immediately and she ran up to it and threw her arms around the phoenix's neck, or as far around as she could. "Shirohouou…" she murmured into the soft and pleasantly warm feathers.

"_So you found me, little one,"_ she said softly in that familiar voice that had guided Talim in Hueco Mundo. _"I am proud of you. You've grown so much in such a short time. You're looking for him, aren't you?"_

Talim looked up at Shirohouou and said, "I need to you take me to Toushiro if you can."

The phoenix nodded and crouched so Talim could crawl up onto her back right at the end of her neck. Then the great bird stood and spread her winds wide. With a powerful flap, she was airborne and the world around them seemed to swirl with color. Talim pressed her face into Shirohouou's neck as the bird flew, her dark hair whipping behind her. They flew at such a great speed for a while before Talim felt her slow down and she lifted her head up to see that they were now lowering to the ground. The world around them had changed into a snowy landscape surrounded by mountains. They landed in front of a giant icy blue dragon that was curled in the snow. Talim jumped down from Shirohouou's neck, her feet sinking slightly in the snow, the cold wind whipping at her hair and clothing.

As she approached the dragon, it opened its glowing red eyes and lifted its head slightly to look at her. _"You came,"_ he said in a deep voice.

"Hyourinmaru!" Talim gasped.

The dragon chuckled and looked up at Shirohouou. _"So you brought her then?"_

"_I did… she asked me to take her to him."_

Hyourinmaru nodded and then lifted his head up more and lifted a wing, revealing the small figure he was protecting from the snow and wind. Talim let out a soft gasp and ran over to where Toushiro laid pressed against the dragon's flank. She dropped down beside him and then looked between the dragon and phoenix. "How… how am I here? Where…?"

"_This is Toushiro's heart, his mind,"_ Hyourinmaru said softly. _"Just as you were able to communicate with me, you can enter this world, as long as you are with Shirohouou."_

"_And the same goes for Toushiro, in coming into my world,"_ Shirohouou said from where she nestled herself beside Hyourinmaru, caging in Toushiro and Talim between them. The two ancient creatures were about the same size, phoenix a bit smaller than dragon. _"The two of you are linked in a way that hasn't been in several thousand years."_

"_That's why the two of you feel a tingle in your souls when you are near each other, and why you, Talim, can feel Toushiro's feelings with your empathy more than anyone else's."_

Talim looked down at where Toushiro was curled against Hyourinmaru. He was dressed in his Shinigami uniform and haori, his white hair blending in with the snow around him. His eyes were closed, but his face wasn't as peaceful as it was outside of this world. She reached for him, but then looked up at Hyourinmaru. "Will he wake up here?" she asked him.

The dragon nodded and said, _"Only you can bring him back. I've tried, but it seems that he needs your guidance as well as mine."_

Talim nodded and she gently ran her fingers through Toushiro's hair. He moaned and his eyes slowly opened. They flickered up to look at Talim and they immediately cleared as he shot upright. "Talim?" he gasped.

Talim smiled and nodded and then she smacked him in the back of the head… hard. "Don't ever scare me like that again, you hear me?" she said, her voice rising from all the emotion swirling around inside of her. "I thought that you weren't ever going to get better!"

Toushiro rubbed the back of his head, still staring at her incredibly. "How are you here?" he asked.

She told him everything that Shirohouou and Hyourinmaru told her and when she finished, he looked over at the phoenix and smiled. "So you found your Zanpakutoh," he said. "I'm proud of you."

"Not without help, believe me," Talim replied, "but thanks."

Toushiro looked at her and asked, "Are we…?"

"No, we're out of there. We're safe now. So you can wake up anytime… like, now would be nice."

He shook his head and said, "I… I don't know if I can… I've been hiding here for such a long time… it just kept getting harder and harder to get back."

"Come on," Talim said, taking his hand into hers. "You can do it, just feel for me. Feel for my heart." She could feel herself leaving and she looked back at Shirohouou. "See you soon?"

The phoenix nodded and Talim looked back at Toushiro. "I'll see you back in the real world," she said softly.

When Talim blinked again, she found herself back in the room in Urahara's shop, her hand still in Toushiro's. She looked down at his face and saw that his eyes were still closed. She brought his hand to her cheek and whispered, "Follow my voice, and the fire of my heart. Let it lead you back to me…"

She felt his fingers twitch and then they moved on their own across her cheek and lips. She watched with a growing feeling inside of her as his eyes slowly opened, glazed from such a long sleep. They blinked a few times, staring at the ceiling, before flickering and fixing on Talim's face. They stared at each other for a few moments before Toushiro curled his body so his head rested on Talim's lap, his arms snaking around her waist. She felt warm tears slide down her face as she ran her fingers through his snowy hair. "Welcome back…" she said softly.

**.:x:.**

"What's been going down? I need updates here."

Talim couldn't stop the smile that spread on her face. Toushiro had only been awake for less than a day and he was already back in captain mode. _That's Toushiro Hitsugaya for you…_ She sat next to him, both of them with their backs to the wall. He had one of her hands in both of his on his lap, his thumbs unconsciously brushing against the back of it. Both of them were out of their bodies still, although Talim was now in her _shihakshou_ when Toushiro was still in only a yukata. Rangiku, Ichigo and the others sat around in front of them.

"No sign of the Arrancar," Rangiku said, her face serious although her eyes sparkled with happiness from the fact that her captain was awake and now making progress with his recovery. "I've been making daily reports to the Captain-Commander on how things are going and as of right now, things have been rather quite."

"The calm before the storm…" Toushiro murmured softly, looking down at his lap. "Aizen is rethinking his plan, knowing that he can't get to us as easily as before."

"Why did he want the two of you though?" Ichigo asked.

"Because our Zanpakutoh are connected… you all know that legend of the dragon and phoenix that bonded with a Shinigami and human?"

"Isn't that just a story?" Ishida asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Obviously not," Toushiro said, looking at the Quincy. "Hyourinmaru and Shirohouou are the same dragon and phoenix of that story. They said that that the story is a bit altered of what really happened, but it was them. That is why Talim can communicate with Hyourinmaru and was able to enter his world with Shirohouou."

"Can you speak with Shirohouou?" Rukia asked.

Toushiro shook his head and said, "She hasn't tried to speak with me yet, so I'm not sure."

"They also said that the two of us are linked," Talim said, "but they're being hush-hush on how we are."

"So that's why Aizen wants you both," Renji said, frowning. "He figures that the two of you together, one with the most powerful ice and water Zanpakutoh and one with what may now be possibly the most powerful fire Zanpakutoh, will create a force powerful enough…"

"…to wipe out Soul Society completely, yes," Toushiro finished.

"But Talim has just obtained _shikai_," Ichigo said.

"And I killed an Arrancar with just that," Talim pointed out.

"Probably because you had the element of surprise on your side," Toushiro said, looking at Talim with a small smirk. "You were just lucky. Next time, they will be prepared."

"Way to bust my bubble… thanks Toushiro…"

Toushiro chuckled and then turned serious again. "But seriously, Talim, you need to train, gain more control over your Zanpakutoh, and become stronger, before…"

"Aizen decides to show his ugly face again?"

Toushiro smiled slightly and nodded. "Exactly… So when I get better, we're finishing where we left off before this whole mess."

"Except you won't be beating the crap out of me this time around…"

"Just because you now have your Zanpakutoh and obtained _shikai_, doesn't mean that I'm going easy on you now."

"I don't expect it," Talim said and then gave Toushiro a wicked smirked. "So don't expect me to do so as well."

**.:x:.**

Toushiro only needed three more days until he was well enough again to start training and return back to the daily routine. When he and Talim returned to school, they made up a story saying that they took a long weekend, which Keigo took in the most perverted way possible.

After school, training would begin and Talim found herself being forced out of her gigai by Ichigo's Shinigami badge, which was temporarily until Urahara found a good quality Gikongan for her to use when she needed to get out of her body.

Talim faced off against Toushiro, her Zanpakutoh unsheathed and in her hand. Toushiro held his Zanpakutoh before him, gripping the long hilt in both of his hands. His body began to glow with an icy blue light, his growing reiatsu causing his clothing and hair to sway slightly. His eyes were closed as the light grew brighter, larger and moved like fire. As Talim raised her reiatsu, the outcome was the same, but the color of the light was the gold color of autumn leaves.

When Toushiro opened his eyes, they glowed with an inner silvery light. His reiatsu seemed to explode from under his feet at he said, "Ready, Talim?"

Talim smiled, her eyes now glowing with an inner gold light, and raised her Zanpakutoh slightly as she took her fighting stance, the blade parallel to the ground. "Bring it on," she said.

Toushiro jumped high into the air, raising his sword as ice began to spiral around the blade. The usual blue sky of Urahara's training area was covered in dark gray clouds as Toushiro yelled, "Souten ni Zase, Hyourinmaru!" The ice formed and took shape of the icy dragon, who roared and swirled around Toushiro, eyes glowing like rubies.

"Kashou Koukouto, Shirohouou!" Talim cried, bringing her Zanpakutoh high before slashing it downward. Fire burst from her blade and swirled around her before taking on the shape of the white and blue phoenix formed completely out of fire. Shirohouou opened her beak and piped out a haunting but beautiful melody that was her war cry as she rose into the air, wings spread and long tail spiraling around Talim.

Toushiro swung his sword down, sending Hyourinmaru towards Talim, who swung her own sword up, sending Shirohouou towards the icy dragon. The two creatures clashed, sending out a burst of reiatsu that blew up sand and made the cliffs shake. Toushiro's blade clashed against Talim's, his icy reiatsu mingling with her fiery one.

High up on top of a cliff where he was safe from the two young Shinigami, Urahara watched them, a serious look on his face. He frowned as he watched the two training for may possibly be another Winter War, finally seeing what he'd been looking for. "So… that's how the two of you are connected…" he said softly.


	18. Chapter 18

"_The 25th_ _Annual Karakura High Winter Ball; Saturday, December 20th; Semi-formal attire required. _Captain, we have to go!"

"No we don't…" Toushiro grumbled from where he was leaning against the wall, arms folded across his chest. "There's too much going on, so we don't have time for a dance…"

"But Captain," Rangiku protested, waving her hands excitedly. "This is something we need. We've been so busy training for who-knows-what and we haven't had the time to just enjoy ourselves! At least one night, Captain… who knows when we'll get another chance…"

Toushiro sighed and looked towards the ceiling before looking to the floor and pinching the bridge of his nose. _How do I put up with her…?_ "Alright, alright, you and everyone else can go…"

He winced when Rangiku squealed loudly with delight, feeling a headache coming on. "Oh, thank you Captain!" she exclaimed before suddenly clamming up and frowning. "Wait… me and everyone else… what about you, Captain? Aren't you going?"

"Someone has to keep an eye out on the town, in case Hollow show up," Toushiro said, pushing off of the wall with one foot.

"But, what about Talim?"

Toushiro frowned and then shrugged, "I don't even know if she's going…"

"Of course she is!" Rangiku exclaimed. "You both are going, and that's that! Captain, don't you recognize the date?"

Toushiro glanced back at the flyer on the wall. _December 20th_… _oh…_ "Yeah…" he said softly, "and I'm still not going…"

"But Captain…"

"I made my decision, Matsumoto, so stop pestering me about it!" he snapped, lifting up his bag and throwing the strap over his head and onto his shoulder before walking down the hall. Other students in the hall stepped away at the sight of his face, but he ignored all of them. He retreated to the rooftop, where it was quiet and he could have some peace to clear his head.

**.:x:.**

"Talim! Talim!"

The said girl looked around and saw Rangiku running towards her, waving her hand over her head to get her attention. Talim frowned as she stepped off the walkway to wait for the busty woman. The ground was covered in snow and the clouds were heavy with looked like more snow. Everyone was dressed in coats, scarves and gloves to keep out the winter chill.

Rangiku stopped when she caught up with Talim, panting slightly. "Talim… have you… seen… Captain…?" she asked between pants.

"No… I was actually wondering where he disappeared to… I can't even feel his reiatsu…"

Rangiku sighed and slapped her forehead lightly. "Oh, I screwed this one up…" she moaned.

"Huh?"

"That Winter Ball that the school is throwing," Rangiku explained, pulling out the flyer from her bag and handing it to Talim. "Look at the date…"

"_December 20th_... what's up with that?" Talim asked, looking up at Rangiku.

"It's Captain's birthday… which he hasn't celebrated since Hinamori died."

"Oh…" Talim said slowly, understanding.

"Yeah, and I was pestering him about going with you… you are going, right?"

"Yeah," Talim replied, nodding. "I'm helping Rinoa decorate and prepare it, so I'm getting two free tickets…"

"Well… Captain says he's not going and he got really mad when I kept bugging him about it…"

"So that's why he's gone off somewhere," Talim said, sighing. She then began to head back to the school.

"Hey, where are you going?" Rangiku called out.

"I know where he is," Talim said, looking back over her shoulder. "I'm gonna go talk to him."

"Be careful… he was pretty mad."

Talim just waved to Rangiku before running back into the school and heading up to the rooftop. Sure enough, the white haired Shinigami was up there, leaning against the chain-link fence that surrounded the edge of the roof, his cell phone out. He wasn't even hitting any buttons, but just staring at the screen. Talim leaned against the doorway, watching him for a while. Now that he was close, she could feel his emotions rolling around like a roller coaster. It was a mixture of anger, sadness, self-hate, suffering, and others that she couldn't pin-point exactly but she knew that there wasn't one positive emotion in that mix.

Toushiro's eyes flickered up to look at Talim and with a _snap_ he shut his phone. "Matsumoto send you after me?" he said, his voice colder than usual, especially with her.

"No, she didn't know where you were," Talim said, frowning at his tone. "I figured you were up here, so I came up. She told me that you're… upset…"

Toushiro snorted and turned away, hands in the pockets of his pants. Although Talim had her coat and scarf on, all Toushiro wore was the cream colored sweater vest over his untucked school uniform top and gray pants. "Upset doesn't even cut how I'm feeling right now," he growled.

"She told me that you got all riled up because of the dance…"

"That's not it!" he snapped, whipping his head around to glare at her.

Talim's frown deepened and she placed her hands on her hips. "Then please explain it to me, because I can't help you if you don't tell me what's bugging you…"

"You wanna help?" Toushiro snarled, looking away from her. "Then leave me alone."

Talim blinked with surprise. This wasn't like Toushiro… _at all_. "Is it because it's on your birthday?" she asked. "Rangiku told me that you haven't celebrated one since Hinamori died… Toushiro, if that's it, then I understand how you feel…"

"No, you don't…"

"Like I don't!" Talim yelled, beginning to become upset by the way he was speaking to her. "I lost my family too, Toushiro, so I know exactly how you would feel on those special days…"

"How do I know that you weren't lying about all of that?" Toushiro hissed, glaring at Talim. "You lied to me before about your past."

It was like being stabbed in the heart. Talim could feel her tears building up as her vision blurred. "That's low, Hitsugaya…" she whispered. "That's really, _really_ low, even for you… You know what…? Screw you; I don't even know why I bother…" With that, she turned around and walked back into the school, running as soon as she was out of hearing range, blocking her reiatsu so he wouldn't know how much he hurt her just then.

**.:x:.**

Throughout the rest of the day, neither of them spoke to each other. Ichigo and the others noticed this and even though they were worried, they didn't ask about what was going on. Rangiku felt horrible and wasn't as bubbly as she usually was. Rukia and Orihime spent most of their time with Talim, while the guys stayed clear of Toushiro in case he ended up lashing at them, seeing as he hurt the girl he cared for more than anything.

After school, Talim headed over to Urahara's, telling Orihime and Rukia that she was going to try the conversing-with-your-Zanpakutoh that Urahara told her to try sometime to make herself stronger.

"Alright," Rukia said, giving Talim a smile. "But, if you want to take out your frustration on something, give me a holler and we'll practice."

"'Kay," Talim replied, before continuing to the shop.

Once she got there, she got out of her body and went down to the training area. She picked out a spot high up on a cliff, one of the highest ones. Shirohouou liked high places, so Talim thought that that spot was best. She unsheathed her sword and stuck it point down into the ground before sitting Indian-style in front of it. She closed her eyes, resting her hands on her lap and reached out to converse with the fiery bird.

"_You're heart is riled up with emotions, Talim…"_

_Yeah… I had a tough day…_

"_I know, little one… and I'm sorry that things have to be this way right now, but it will pass."_

_Shirohouou, I've been meaning to ask you something._

"_What is it?"_

_Am I strong enough to obtain _bankai _before we go to war?_

"_That is for you to decide. Whenever you are ready, I am ready. Keep training and I will help guide you to that point. We'll do it together and become strong. Now, there are some things I would like to teach you. There are other attacks that you can use besides Shinkou Honoo. Most of them you can't use until you achieve _bankai _but there is one ability that you can use, even without me released. It's called Houou Bankoku, or Phoenix Tears. It's a healing ability, using the power of phoenix tears to heal injuries. But remember this: the greater the injury, the more spirit energy it will take to heal it. I will help you learn to use this ability soon."_

_Okay then, and when I achieve _bankai_, you'll teach me other things?_

"_Yes I will, and the next time you train, link with me and I'll teach you new moves that will help in a real battle. There is more to just powerful attacks when you use me. Now, there's someone here to see you, and I suggest that you try to listen and not be stubborn, no matter how much you are hurting right now. You can come and speak with me afterwards if you wish."_

Talim opened one eye when she felt a flood of emotions she knew were coming from only one person. She could see the shadow being cast on the ground in front of her from the person who stood behind her. Closing her eyes again, she sighed, trying to keep reign on her emotions. "Why are you here?"

She heard the gravel shift under sneakered feet and sensed a strong wave of guilt and sorrow coming from the person behind her. "I just…" Toushiro said softly. "I just… I want to say, I'm sorry for today. I thought a lot about it all day long and I realize that I was a complete ass to you when you were only there to just… _be_ there for me. I'm feeling really shitty right now…"

"You should be…" Talim said, without opening her eyes or turning to look at him. She felt his guilt rise, but she still didn't look at him.

"I didn't mean what I said," he said, his voice soft and full of hurt. "I didn't mean to hurt you… it's just every year on that day, I think of the last time I spent it. It was on a rooftop with Momo, Aizen, and a few others and we were watching the fireworks. I look back on that and I just can't believe that everything happened the way it did. So my birthday… it just brings bad memories… and I shouldn't have taken it out on you and I'm sorry… Talim, I'm really…"

"Shut up…" Talim said with a soft sigh. Toushiro's sorrow spiked at that, so she opened her eyes and turned her head to look up at him. He had changed out of his school clothes and was wearing a gray sweater with blue jeans and sneakers. "Stop apologizing already… it doesn't suit you…"

Toushiro blinked at her and she was slightly surprised to see the tears glistening in his eyes. He then smiled and swiped a hand across his eyes. "Yeah…" he said, his voice hoarse as if he was holding back from crying. "Never thought that I would ever have to beg someone for forgiveness… you do forgive me, right?"

"Yeah, I do… I know you're sorry, I can sense it." Talim pushed herself to her feet and taking Shirohouou, she sheathed her Zanpakutoh before turning to face Toushiro. "Guess that was our first fight," she said.

"Yeah, guess so…"

Talim smiled and then she held her arms out. He took the offer and the white haired Shinigami stepped into her embrace, burying his face into the crook of her neck. They stayed like that for a while until Toushiro pulled away and looked at Talim. "So, we're okay now?"

Talim nodded and then said, "If you don't want to go, that's fine. I can give my tickets to someone else and we can just do something together on our own."

Toushiro shook his head and said, "No, I'll go. Matsumoto's right…" He turned his head and stared off, his eyes hardening slightly. "Who knows when we will be able to just enjoy ourselves again? This may be our last chance to just do something for ourselves without worrying about anything before all hell breaks loose. We're in a calm now… let's just enjoy it while we can."

"So you'll go?"

"Yeah…"

"Thank God!" Talim exclaimed. Toushiro looked around back at her and she smiled. "I already bought my dress."

He laughed and then kissed her lightly on the forehead. Their moment was broken by Urahara yelling up at them, telling them to come down. "What does that man want now?" Toushiro grumbled.

Talim shrugged and the two of them made their way down to where Urahara waited for them. The shop owner smiled slightly and said, "I've been waiting to tell the both of you together…"

"What are you talking about, Urahara?" Toushiro asked, frowning slightly.

"I found out how the two of you are linked," he replied, looking at them from under his hat.

Talim blinked and then asked, "How?"

"This…" Urahara reached out and the area around them darkened as glowing white ribbons appeared around them. The one Urahara reached for, however, was a blood red one. "Reiraku…" he said. "This one… is mine… yours however…" He released his reiraku and grasped another one. Toushiro and Talim's eyes widened at the reiraku strand he held.

It was the same blood red as a Shinigami's reiraku, but threading through the ribbon was strands of what looked like ice and fire. Closer inspection made them realize that the ribbon was actually _two_, bonded together by the threads of fire and ice.

"It's your reiraku that binds the two of you together," Urahara said softly, looking at them. "In other words… you basically share the same reiraku."

"Im-impossible!" Toushiro exclaimed.

"It isn't, because here's the proof," Urahara said, releasing the strand. The ribbons vanished and the area around them returned back to normal. "If one of you was to die, the other would feel it and would for the rest of their days feel as if a part of them was cut away, like an arm or leg, but it would be much deeper than that."

"How come we never felt each other before though?" Talim asked.

"Time… it's always an issue. I believe that direct contact would have triggered the two of you sensing the other's presence."

Talim and Toushiro looked at each other, thinking the same thing. When Toushiro first saw Talim on the roof , was when they started feeling the other's presence.

"You both were separated by time, but destined to meet each other sooner or later. Fate, it seems, has her own way of making things happen."

"So, what now?" Toushiro asked, looking at the ex-Shinigami.

Urahara tilted his hat slightly, looking up at them from under its rim. "Listen to your Zanpakutoh… they will teach you."


	19. Chapter 19

"This is going to be so much fun!" Rangiku squealed from where she stood in front of Orihime's standing, full body mirror, turning this way and that to inspect herself in the close fitting, low necked, haltered black dress. Her breasts looked like they were about to burst free from the top, but just like in her _shihakshou, _she managed to keep them in. "And Talim, I can't believe that you convinced Captain to go!"

"Don't pester him about it tonight, okay Rangiku?" Talim said, poking her head around the dressing screen she was changing behind, her dark hair falling around her bare shoulders. "I'm glad that he's going, but I also know that it's probably been a tough day for him too. I want him to remember this night as the first birthday he's enjoyed since…"

Rangiku nodded and said, "I know, and so for his birthday, I won't drive him up the wall… well, not too much anyway."

Talim nodded with a smile before retreated back behind the screen.

"We should have done something for his birthday," Orihime said from the bed with Rukia, doing up the smaller woman's hair. "Just to show that we care."

"No, Captain doesn't like big things like that," Rangiku said. "He gets all twitchy. But I think that we should all make sure that he has a great time, and take care of any Hollow that decides to pop up during the night, just so he can relax and not have to worry."

"He's gonna worry anyway," Talim said, coming out from behind the screen. "That's just how he is… so, how do I look?" She stood before the other girls, dressed in a blue dress almost the same shade as Toushiro's eyes that fell to her shins with a split going up her thigh and was strapless. Around the edges of the split were cherry blossom petals done in silvery thread and the back of the bodice was tied with cross ties to hold the top up securely. Her hair she was going to keep down and put some loose curls in it.

Rangiku clapped her hands excitedly and exclaimed, "You look amazing! Captain's gonna have a nose bleed!"

"I don't think it'll be that drastic," Rukia said with a slight smile, "but you do look really beautiful Talim. Captain Hitsugaya will think so too."

"The color matches with his eyes," Orihime said, placing in the last pin into Rukia's hair. "You look really nice Talim."

"Thanks," Talim replied, smiling. She went up to the mirror and looked at herself. She realized how much her body toned up in the past few months with all of the training she'd been going through. Not only was it changing her soul form, but it affected her human body as well. She looked over at Rukia who stood beside her to inspect herself in the mirror. The raven haired girl was dressed in a dark purple, thin strapped dress that went down to her knees. Her hair was pulled up with a few loose strands to frame her face. "I bet Ichigo will be the first to have a nose bleed," she replied, "after seeing Rukia."

"Shut up…" Rukia grumbled, although her cheeks turned slightly pink.

"Okay, okay," Orihime said. "Talim, get over here so I can get your hair done. You do have a lot of it."

Talim smiled and went over to where Orihime had several small hair rollers all heated up and ready to be placed in her hair.

**.:x:.**

"Never expected you to be going, Toushiro," Ichigo said.

"Shut up," the said Shinigami captain replied, "and it's Captain Hitsugaya to you."

"Whatever…"

Toushiro huffed and adjusted the neck of the black turtleneck he was wearing, along with a pair of dark blue dress pants and black shoes. "When are the others getting here?"

"Rangiku said that she and the girls will be here before seven, and Ishida and Chad should be here at any moment," Renji said, fixing the collar of the black dress shirt he had, the first two buttons undone.

Toushiro nodded just as the doorbell rang and a few moments later, Ishida and Chad knocked and entered Ichigo's bedroom. Ishida was dressed in a white top with blue pants and Chad had on a dark purple top with the first three buttons undone and black pants. Both of them nodded to Toushiro with respect for his title, who returned the nod, before looking at Ichigo. "Never expected to see you all done up nice, Kurosaki," Ishida said with a smirk.

"Shut up Quincy…" Ichigo snapped. The orange haired Shinigami was wearing a white dress shirt with black pants and shoes.

Toushiro rolled his eyes and then looked at the clock on Ichigo's desk. "Better start heading down," he told them. "I'm going to make a quick report to the Captain-Commander and then I'll join you."

"Alright," Ichigo said, standing up and heading out the door.

Once they left, Toushiro let out a sigh and dropped himself onto the edge of the bed. He took out his phone and quickly made the report before snapping it shut and slipping it into his back pocket. He then pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes and let out a soft moan. He'd been anxious all day for this night, feeling that something was bound to go wrong. The fact that it was his birthday and he was turning god-knows-how-old made his emotions go out of wack. He was feeling pain because Momo wasn't there, again, tension because this was the first one he was going to have while in a serious relationship with someone he really loved, nervousness because he didn't know what to expect but also some excitement. He sighed and lowered his hands to his lap and stared at them. "A lot's changed…" he said softly, "since that night on the rooftop…"

He heard the doorbell ring and knew that the girls had arrived, but he didn't stand up just yet. "Momo… I'm happy now, like you always wanted, but it doesn't mean I won't forget you… you'll always be my sister, no matter what…"

"HEY! TOUSHIROU! GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE!" Ichigo hollered from downstairs.

"Shut up, I'm coming!" Toushiro yelled, standing up and opening the door. As he went down the stairs, he said, "And how many times do I have to tell you, Kurosaki? It's Captain Hitsu-"

He lost all thought when he saw Talim, except for one thing that crossed his mind through the faint buzzing. _Oh, wow…_ Inside on him, he heard Hyourinmaru hum in approval.

The dress Talim wore made her look incredible and her long dark hair fell down her back in light curls. Her skin seemed to glow in the light and her eyes sparkled as she looked at him. A smile turned her lips up, making her seem even more radiant than before. Toushiro had always seen her as beautiful before, but this was far beyond that. For the first time in his life, as far as he knew, Toushiro Hitsugaya was rendered speechless and lost of all train of thought.

Everyone could see the look in the prodigy captain's eyes and face, since his demeanor had slipped just slightly and they all smiled, but didn't say anything. Talim smiled even more and walked up to Toushiro and rested a hand against the side of his face. The heels she wore made her eye level with the Shinigami captain and she gave him a light kiss on the lips. "Happy Birthday, Toushiro," she said softly when she pulled away, her lips inches from his.

Toushiro didn't stop the small smile that turned up his mouth. "You look beautiful… more so than usual," he said quietly.

Talim looked at him in the eyes and said, "You look very nice too, Toushiro." She then took his hand and said, "Come on, we don't want to be late."

**.:x:.**

There were already a few people there when they arrived. Talim was immediately tackled by Rinoa, who exclaimed that Talim looked gorgeous. Her best friend was dressed in a chocolate brown, thin strapped, three-quarter length dress with her dark hair done in curls and waves. Rinoa then looked at Toushiro and her eyes widened. "Is _that_ Toushiro Hitsugaya?!" she asked Talim softly as Talim's group began to make their way towards the table that had been reserved for them.

"Yeah," Talim said. "What other white-haired shorty do you know?" She sensed annoyance spike from Toushiro, and she knew that he heard her. _I'm gonna get an earful…_

"Oh wow, he's well… umm… don't mind me saying it, but… drop dead gorgeous…"

Talim looked over to where Toushiro was sitting at their table, leaning back in his chair with an elbow propped on the back of it, trying to shoo off Rangiku who was fluttering about him excitedly. It was Renji who finally pulled the busty strawberry blonde away, but Talim just admired Toushiro. Rinoa was right; in that black turtleneck, Toushiro did look really 'drop dead gorgeous'. His white hair stood out, as well as the bright cerulean of his eyes. He looked a hell of a lot older as well. Talim had been in shock when she'd seen him come down the stairs at Ichigo's. She was definitely with one of the best looking men tonight and she couldn't help but feel giddy knowing that he only had eyes for her.

Toushiro's eyes flickered over to her and one corner of his lips turned up in that familiar smirk that he only gave to her, only it looked hell of a lot sexier tonight. Talim returned the smile and looked back at Rinoa. "Tell me about it…" she said, her voice almost breathless.

"He's really good looking," Rinoa said, "if you look past that scowl he always has. And you're happy?"

"Yeah, I am," Talim said, nodding.

"Then I'm happy for you too. You got lucky to find one who's both good looking and treats you good." Rinoa gave Talim a quick hug and said, "Now I have to hunt down my date. See you later on?"

"Definitely," Talim said, "and don't be shy about stopping by at our table. They aren't as crazy as they look…" Just at that moment, Rukia punched Ichigo in the chest, sending the substitute Shinigami to the floor, in which Rukia stood and planted a foot on his head, pressing down hard. Talim sighed wearily and said, "Forget that I said that…"

Rinoa laughed softly and said, "Well, at least they all care about you. See you later, then… and I think she's gonna kill Ichigo…" The dark haired girl looked around Talim to where Rukia was still having Ichigo eat the floor.

"He probably deserves it…" Talim muttered, but smiled at Rinoa before turning and heading over to the table. She stopped beside where Toushiro sat and looked at Rukia, her eyebrows raised. "What did he do?"

"He was just being himself, as usual," Renji said as Rukia stepped back and plopped down into her seat.

"Oh, okay then," Talim said, shrugging.

Ichigo looked up over the table at her and blinked. "Thanks for caring, Talim…" he grumbled.

"I do care; I just have my own way of showing it," she replied. She then let out a small gasp when someone's arms snaked around her waist and pulled her into their lap. She smiled down at Toushiro who rested his chin onto her shoulder, his eyes closed. His arms tightened around her and she could feel his heart beating against her back. She could sense contentment and peacefulness emitting from him so strongly that it calmed her as well. She couldn't help but feel happy for him; if this was how he was feeling, then he must be enjoying himself.

They all sat there and didn't talk about what was going on what with Aizen and possibly another Winter War. They talked about anything else, like incidents in Soul Society or about the first time Ichigo realized that the Yoruichi the black cat, who helped them into Soul Society to save Rukia, turned out to be Yoruichi the woman and how Ichigo's initial reaction to _that _was. Rangiku talked about a few incidents that she had after a night of drinking, which Toushiro bluntly added about the one time he walked into his office to find her, Shuuhei Hisagi and Izuru Kira passed out in their underwear and Rangiku complaining about her breasts crushing her chest. Talim cracked up at this and Rangiku muttered something about getting a drink before running off with her face as red as Renji's hair.

"Talim, Talim!"

Talim looked around to see Rinoa hurrying towards her. Her best friend stopped in front of her and gave a wave to the others and said a 'hey' to Toushiro before taking Talim's hand. "Toushiro," she asked, "you don't mind if I steal Talim from you for a little bit, do you? I wanna take to the dance floor."

Talim looked around at Toushiro and asked, "Well?"

Toushiro shrugged and said, "Fine by me, but don't cause trouble."

"Hey, this is me you're talking to…"

"I know," he replied, giving her his smirk before kissing her cheek. He then brushed his lips over to her ear and whisper. "Go have fun with your friend… you haven't spent time with her in a while with everything that's going on… and besides, I'll have plenty of time with you later."

Talim blushed, but she felt something back-flip in her stomach at the way he said the last part. She turned her head, planted a quick kiss on his lips, before launching herself off of him, kicking her shoes off so she was barefoot and grabbed Rinoa's hand. "Let's go," she said and the two of them went out onto the dance floor.

They picked a spot where Talim still had a view of her table and where she knew Toushiro could see her. She allowed the music to sweep over her and take over her body.

**.:x:.**

Toushiro watched Talim dance for a while with her friend. The girl's dark hair swirled around her shoulders as she allowed the music to move her body. Her eyes were closed and her face was in complete calm. The way the dim lights played off of her skin made her look incredible.

He was nudged out of his reverie by Ichigo tapping his shoulder with a red plastic cup of soda. "Here, Toushiro," he said, "got you a drink. Hope you like cola."

Toushiro shot Ichigo a glare for using his first name, but instead muttered, "Thanks," as he accepted the cup. He took a sip and wrinkled his nose slightly at the fizz, turning his attention back to Talim.

"She's one heck of a girl," Ichigo said, sitting in a chair backwards next to Toushiro, holding his own cup.

"Yeah," Toushiro agreed, nodding.

"She is definitely the right girl for you."

Toushiro shot Ichigo a look at the tone of his voice. "What do you mean by that?"

"She's bundles of fun and you're no fun at all," Ichigo replied with a grin. "She completes you."

"Don't make me ice you…"

"Hey, I've been wondering…" Ichigo said, obviously ignoring the threat. His face then turned serious as he looked at Toushiro. "What are you two going to do when you have to head back?"

The white haired Shinigami frowned and said, "I haven't thought that far ahead yet… I really don't know. It is sometimes frowned upon for a Shinigami to fall in love with a human…"

"Well, she's not exactly human, not anymore," Ichigo pointed out, gesturing to her slightly with his cup. "She's a Shinigami, who obtained _shikai_ for that matter and could possibly obtain _bankai_ pretty soon as well. She's a captain-class Shinigami…"

"But she's still human," Toushiro said, cutting him off. "She's not officially dead, and that's what counts. I don't even know if the Captain-Commander will allow me to continue to see her after I return, will probably say that it will get in the way of my captain duties. And there's another thing… if I end up coming back for another mission, I will probably find Talim pushing her fifties, if she isn't an old woman… and I'll look about the same as I am now…"

"Well, you better think of something soon," Ichigo said, this time cutting the captain off. "The big battle's coming up and then before you know it, you'll be looking at the opening gates of _Senkaimon_ and you'll either be saying, 'see you later' or 'good-bye forever' to Talim. You have to come up with something and act quickly. Don't listen to what others say, like the old man, or your mind telling you about your 'duties as a captain' and all that crap. Listen to your heart, and I know that sounds really corny, but it works every time. Trust me, I know…" With that, Ichigo stood and decided to rag out on Ishida for entertainment, leaving Toushiro to his thoughts.

_How is it that that idiot says the most intelligent and wise things that leave me thinking…?_ Toushiro mused to himself, before really dwelling on what the substitute Shinigami said. He knew that if he left Talim for good, he would be leaving a part of his soul behind and neither of them would ever feel the same. He would hurt her as well as himself. But if he kept it going, then every time he had the free time to return to the real world and see her, he would just see a women growing older and older while he stayed young because time aged them differently. _What am I going to do…?_

"Umm… Toushiro… well, umm… Captain Hitsugaya, I mean…?"

"What?" Toushiro asked, shaking free from his thoughts. He looked up to see Orihime looking down at him.

"Well, I was wondering if you thought about dancing with Talim?" she asked him. "I mean, you should and she is coming back because Rinoa is dancing with her date now…"

Toushiro blinked, just then realizing that the music had slowed and that couples were making their way onto the dance floor. As Orihime spoke to him, Rangiku was being led onto the floor by Renji and Rukia was dragging Ichigo onto the floor. He looked over to where Talim had been dancing and could see that she was making her way over to the concession table to get a drink. He looked up at Orihime, who smiled and then said, "It's just for one night, not to worry about everything that's going on, to just be… well… human."

He looked at Orihime for a while longer before nodding. He knew that he wouldn't hear the end of it from Rangiku, but right now, he really didn't care. _To be human again… haven't done that in a while._ He stood up and made his way over to where Talim was getting her drink. He came up behind her silently and, wrapping one arm around her waist, he brushed her hair to the side, revealing her shoulder. He brushed his lips against it and felt her shudder. "Dance with me, Phoenix?" he asked her softly.

Talim turned around to look at him and she nodded. He took her by the hand and led her onto the dance floor. He then turned to face her and pulled her close to him, resting his hands on her waist. Her arms wrapped around his neck and they began to rotate slowly on the spot. From the corner of his eye, he could see his lieutenant beaming at them.

"You were bothered by something earlier," Talim said, looking up at him. "What were you thinking about?"

"Nothing…" he replied and then thought. _Hell with thinking and worrying about all that now. When the time comes, I will know what to do, so for now, I'm not going to add it to my list of worries._ He smiled at Talim and said, "Nothing that I needed to worry about. I was just thinking."

Talim nodded and he lowered his head the short distance to her to give her a brief kiss before pulling her against him, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist. He pressed his face into her neck as her arms tightened around his neck and her head rested against his shoulder. He was careful not to tread on her bare toes, but other than that, he just basked in the moment that was now.


	20. Chapter 20

The dance ended at ten and after the last song, everyone headed home. Toushiro walked Talim back to Urahara's as the others either headed back to Ichigo's or Orihime's. Soon it was only the two of them walking alone, Toushiro's arm around her shoulders while hers was around his waist. The street was dark, broken by to occasional street light, and it was quiet. As they were coming closer to the river, the air becoming chillier the closer to the water they got, they heard the roar of a Hollow seconds before Toushiro's phone went off.

Talim sighed as Toushiro flipped open the phone to look at the screen and said, "Just when I thought we were going to make it through a perfect night…"

"Look out!" Toushiro suddenly yelled, throwing himself at Talim and sending the both of them down the slope, just as a huge Hollow landed where they had been standing.

Talim groaned as she sat up, Toushiro's hands resting on her shoulders. Her eyes widened at the sight of the Hollow. "A Menos?" she gasped.

"Looks like Aizen is sending out the big guns," Toushiro said, taking out his Gikongan and popping the green pill into his mouth and swallowing it. He burst from his gigai and faced the large Hollow, unsheathing Hyourinmaru.

Talim pushed herself to her feet and dug around in her jacket until she pulled out Ichigo's Shinigami badge, which she _"borrowed"_ from the orange haired Shinigami. She pressed it against her chest, forcing her soul from her body. Toushiro's gigai caught her body before it could hit the ground and Talim looked around at him. "Take my body and get to Urahara's."

Toushiro's gigai nodded and he took off, carrying Talim's body close to him bridal style. Talim turned and took a stance beside Toushiro, unsheathing Shirohouou. The white haired captain looked over at her and asked, "You sure you're ready?"

"Hey, I killed an Arrancar that was torturing you and carted your butt halfway through Las Noches. I think I can handle this guy."

Toushiro chuckled and the two of them took fighting stances as the Hollow roared at the sight of two Shinigami. It raised its fist and swung down at them. They jumped in separate directions, avoiding the attack. Talim landed a few feet away, skidding back slightly. She straightened and held her Zanpakutoh out, her reiatsu rising and melting the snow around her feet. "Kashou Koukouto, Shirohouou," she said as she swung her sword in a burst of blue flame, the phoenix forming overhead. Swinging her blade up, she then cried, "Shinkou Honoo!" The phoenix flew at the Hollow and blasted it with a burst of crimson flames. The Hollow roared and reared back, swiping at its face, which gave Talim an opening. She sprang forward and slashed the Hollow right below the hole in its chest and was about to bring her sword up to deal the finishing blow when it swung a fist at her. Talim jumped away, using the spirit particles in the sky to dodge the attack.

"Look out!" Toushiro cried and Talim glanced around just in time to see the Hollow's thick tail coming at her before it struck her in the chest. Talim didn't have time to scream as the blow knocked the wind out of her, feeling as if her chest had been crushed, and sent her flying into the air. She hit something hard before icy coldness and darkness took her over.

**.:x:.**

Toushiro watched in horror as Talim was struck by the Hollow and was thrown into the river, her body crashing through the thin layer of ice into the dark waters. "TALIM!" he yelled as he felt her reiatsu disappear. _No, she can't be… Hyourinmaru! Can you feel her or Shirohouou?!_

"_I… can't…"_

"NO!" Toushiro roared, his reiatsu flaring as he turned to face the Hollow. "_**BANKAI!**_"

Ice formed around his shoulders and created wings and a long tail on his back. Hyourinmaru's head and neck formed on his sword arm while an arm guard that resembled the dragon's claw formed on his left. Snow swirled around him as he spread the wings of ice wide, his eyes glowing brightly. The three, four petaled flowers appeared above him between the wings. "Daiguren Hyourinmaru (Great Red Ice Ring)," he whispered fiercely. He then lunged forward with an angry yell, swinging his Zanpakutoh at the Hollow.

The monster roared and dodged his attack. He cursed as he turned around, standing in the air. "Bastard…" he said softly, his voice cold. Then from the corner of his eye, he saw the tail that took out Talim come at him. He made to move away but the tip glanced off of the side of his head. He skidded back, feeling blood trickling between his eyes. "Damn it… what's up with this Hollow? It's more powerful than a normal one…" He rose up his sword when it lunged at him in an attack, its claws slamming against the edge of his blade. He pushed the Hollow back and shunpoed a safe distance away.

A thought suddenly struck him. Matsumoto and the others would have arrived by now once they sensed the Hollow, him in his _bankai _form and Talim's reiatsu gone… _no, I can't think of that! She's not gone…_ He held his sword in front of him, pointing it at the Hollow and said, "Ryuusenka (Dragon Hail Blossom)." A ring of minuscule shards of ice formed around his blade before blasting at the Hollow. The Hollow roared and opened its mouth wide, a red and black orb forming and blasting from his gaping maw. Toushiro cursed again and dodged the cero attack, which took out his Ryuusenka attack. He faced the Hollow again, panting slightly. He couldn't do this, not on his own. This Hollow was almost as powerful as an Arrancar, even though it wasn't as intelligent.

Suddenly, there was an explosion from the river and a geyser of water shot up from the surface. His eyes widened as Talim appeared from the water, her reiatsu creating a blast of warm wind that past through him and evaporating the water that brought her up, turning it into steam. She disappeared for a moment only to reappear behind the Hollow and slashing it across the back of its head. "That hurt, you monster," she said, her eyes flashing. She then sprang back and raised her sword, Shirohouou forming behind her in a burse of blue and white flame. "Together Toushiro," she called out.

Toushiro shook out of his shock of seeing her alive and brought his sword up again, pointing it at the Hollow that was between the two of them. He summoned up all of his spirit energy to put behind his final attack, hoping that this would do the Hollow in.

"Ryuusenka!"

"Shinkou Honoo!"

The two attacks, one fire, one ice, struck the Hollow at the same time. The creature let out one last bellow before dissolving into the black miasma, indicating that it had been purified.

Toushiro landed on the ground gently, still in _bankai_ form and watched as Talim landed in front of him a little more heavily than he. She crouched slightly before straightening and looking at him. She frowned and reached up to touch the cut in his hair that was leaking blood down his face. "You're hurt…" she muttered. He then felt her spirit energy rise as she muttered, "Houou Bankoku." As he watched, tears welled up and fell from her eyes as a tingling feeling spread across the cut and he could feel it heal. When it was fully healed, she pulled her fingers away and the tears ceased to fall. He brought a hand up and felt his scalp where the injury had been moments before, finding unblemished skin. The only sign that he'd been injured at all was the blood that was still on his face.

"Jeez, Toushiro," Talim said, placing her hands on her hips and looking at him, head tilted slightly. "I was only out of battle for like what, ten minutes, and you managed to get yourself hurt in…"

Toushiro cut her off by dropping his sword so he could pull Talim to him. He crushed his lips against hers in a bruising kiss, lifting her up slightly. He held her tightly as his _bankai_ form dissolved, becoming part of the snow that surrounded their feet. He pulled away finally after he found that he needed to breath and looked deep into her eyes. "Damn it, Talim," he said softly, "I thought I lost you."

"Aw come on," Talim exclaimed. "You can't really think that a blow like that could take me out, did ya?" She then saw the serious fear he had in his eyes and her smile softened. "I'm alright, really. I'm sorry I worried you…"

"'Worried'… you scared me almost to death. If you died, I don't know what I would do."

"Well, I'm okay, now," she said, cupping his face with her hands.

He nodded and let out a sigh. He gently set her back to the ground before bending down and picking up his Zanpakutoh. "Come on," he said, sheathing his sword. "Let's get to Urahara's."

**.:x:.**

Toushiro stepped in through Talim's window and moved aside so Talim could come in behind him. The moment her feet touched the floor soundlessly, he spun around fully and pushed her against the wall beside the window, capturing her lips with his again. The mere thought of how he almost lost her drove him to want this more than ever. He battled the dark haired Shinigami in his arms for supremacy, their tongues pushing and caressing each others as if this was the last kiss they'd ever share. The two of them were treading into uncharted waters for the both of them, but if it was with Talim, Toushiro would do anything. He wrapped one arm around her waist, another around her hip as he lifted her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist, her arms tightening around his neck as she pushed herself closer to him, refusing to break the connection between them.

Everyone in the house was in deep sleep, and the walls were sound proof to block all sounds of yelling children during the day. In Talim's bedroom, it was like they were completely alone, just the two of them.

Their reiatsus were rising, Toushiro's icy one clashing with Talim's fiery one, but at the same time pulsing together in perfect harmony. They could feel each others hearts beating against one another's through their _shihakshous_ from their bodies being so close and Toushiro realized that this seemed so much more real than the times he kissed Talim like this in his gigai. He felt closer to her, more connected, than ever before.

Talim reached up and pulled her hair free from its up-do, the dark locks tumbling down her shoulders. Her soft hair shaded him like a curtain, a few strands becoming caught in his own hair and her scent seemed to increase drastically. She then used both of her hands to push off his haori, leaving him only in his black kimono. He broke free from their kiss to catch his breath and to move them over to the bed. He laid her gently down on top of the thick soft coverlet before lying over her.

Dainty hands gently cupped Toushiro's cheeks in them as Talim gave him one of her soft smiles that brought a pleasant warmth through his entire body. She slowly brought his face down to hers to place gentle and loving kisses onto his lips. Her hands slowly moved down to the obi around his waist and she untied it before bringing her hands back up. He let out a soft moan as her hands slid into the top of his _shihakshou_, brushing against his toned chest. As she deepened their kiss, she pushed open his top and slid it off of his shoulders before removing it completely, dropping it over the edge of the bed. She broke their kiss and Toushiro opened his eyes to find Talim looking over his body, her fingers tracing old scars that marred his chest and shoulders. The feel of her fingers stroking his skin made him want to close his eyes, but he held them open, watching the girl below him. Her eyes moved up to his face, brown eyes brimming with lust and love for him locking with his own cerulean ones. She smiled and he knew that she could read the love he had for her in his eyes. He returned her smile with one of his own before lowering his head down to her neck, leaving a trail of butterfly kisses down it.

As he moved slowly down her neck, he began to open the top of her _shihakshou_ the same way she removed his. Wrapping an arm around her waist, he lifted her upper body up as he removed the garment, dropping it to the floor with his own, before lowering her and himself back onto the bed, relishing in the skin to skin contact they now shared. He moved down to her breasts, which weren't large like Rangiku's but not small either; to him, they were the perfect size. He left loving kisses on them, every once in a while tasting her skin with his tongue. He slowly made his way back up to her face and then looked into her eyes. "Do you want this?" he asked her, his voice hoarse.

Talim nodded, her face slightly flushed. "I-I want this but," she trailed off.

"But what?"

"I...I've never been with a man before," she blushed, "have you ever been with a woman?"

Toushiro looked away. "I...have."

"Oh..." Talim looked down a bit upset. "Who... was she?"

"It was...Hinamori." Talim looked at him. "We were both drunk one night thanks to my Lieutenant and... things got out of hand. I hope this doesn't change anything."

"It bothers me a little, but it doesn't change the way I feel about you."

Toushiro smiled again before he pressed his lips against hers. His hands moved down her sides and he felt her body shudder. He reached her waist band and he began to remove her lower garments, brushing his hand against her inner thigh as he did. Talim gasped and arched her back, her chest pressing against his, her hands moving down to his waist. He removed the last of her clothing and she now laid completely open to him. He lowered his face to her neck and kissed her pulse before slowly kissing his way down to her flat and nicely toned tummy before making his way up again. She tasted as wonderful as she smelled and he found that he couldn't get enough of her.

Talim began to remove the rest of his clothing with shaky hands and he helped her, sitting up so he could remove all. Her eyes scanned his body, darkening with lust and desire and he knew his were the same. He moved back over her, positioning himself between her legs and moving to her entrance but not entering. He kissed her neck again before looking up at her, his breathing as fast and ragged as her own. "Are you ready?"

Talim nodded and to prove it, she reached down between them, gently took a hold of his hardened length, stroking it and bringing the tip inside of her. Toushiro let out a fierce groan at the touch, his eyes half closing as he pressed his lips hard against Talim's, slowing pushing himself the rest of the way in. Talim removed her hand only to place it with the other at the small of his back and he could feel her heart pounding in her chest against his own. He let out a soft moan as he felt her tightening around him and he pressed his face into her neck, breathing heavily. Talim let out a soft cry and he hit resistance, letting him know that he reached her barrier. "I'm sorry," he murmured into her neck. He lifted his head up and looked into her eyes. "This is going to hurt the worst, but it'll get better after that."

Talim nodded, trust apparent in her eyes and face. He began to kiss her face lightly and then, wrapping his arms around her, he pressed his lips tightly to hers as he thrust forward, sheathing himself all the way inside of her. She screamed into his mouth and he pulled away to leave soft kisses on her forehead, eyelids and lips, waiting a few moments to let her adjust. He looked into her eyes one last time before giving her a loving kiss, putting as much love and passion, if not more, as he did in that cell in Hueco Mundo. As their kiss deepened, they started to move, gently rocking together in each other's arms. Their movement was tender and soft, filled with the unspeakable love and trust they had for each other.

Talim's legs wrapped around his waist so more of him would fit inside of her. The pain was being erased by the pleasure she was feeling of him moving inside of her. Her hands moved up to his shoulders and her nails dug into his flesh, which emitted a deep groan that came from the back of his throat. Toushiro broke their kiss and pressed his face into her neck, their breathing becoming rapid and ragged, broken by soft moans from the both of them. He could hardly form a coherent thought as he moved in her; she was so hot and tight around his member and he had to fight against himself from releasing at that moment. He was starting to get close and he knew that Talim was as well from the reactions of her body. They started to move faster and he propped himself up with his elbows on either side of her, thrusting into her with more fervor. He lifted his face and looked into her eyes. Her face looked blissful and her eyes glowed with passion.

Toushiro's face was completely taken by ecstasy and as Talim locked her eyes with his, she could feel the love and devotion he had for her coming from him in waves. She was so close to the breaking point and she knew that he was as well. As his bright cerulean blue eyes bore into her brown ones, he lowered his head for another kiss as Talim felt herself tightening more and more, feeling as if she was about to pop. Toushiro then broke their kiss and with his lips just ghosting over hers, he whispered, "I love you, Talim."

Those words set off the trigger inside of her and she felt the warmth spread through her entire body. All of her muscles locked and she cried out his name as the orgasm rolled through her body. Toushiro let out a primal growl followed by a deep moan, not feeling anything except the vice-like, almost painful, grip that dragged him deeper into his lover's body as he came hard inside of her. Their reiatsus seemed to explode and they rode out the waves of pleasure. Then, the last of his strength spent, Toushiro collapsed on top of Talim, his head resting just above her breasts.

They laid there unmoving, both panting heavily as they slowly came back down to earth. After a few moments, Toushiro pulled out of her and moved beside her, pulling out the blankets from under them to cover their nude bodies. Talim turned to her side and nuzzled her face into his chest, her arms wrapping around his waist tightly. He wrapped his own arms around her, kissing her forehead gently. "I love you, Talim," he whispered, burying his face into her hair, his arms tightening around her. "Gods help me, I do."

"I know," Talim replied, lifting her face up to look at him. "I love you too."

Toushiro smiled before cupping her face with his hands and kissing her gently. He then shifted himself so that he was lying on his back with her head resting on his chest. With their arms wrapped around each other, they drifted to sleep.


End file.
